


Heavenbuilt

by alostautumn2k16



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Coming of Age, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, True Love, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-09 14:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alostautumn2k16/pseuds/alostautumn2k16
Summary: In the deep forest, a legendary tree is rumoured to glow like the sun, likefire, during periods of great darkness. This has attracted many origin stories over time.Known locally asThe Heart of The Sun, a lesser-known tale defines the tree as the symbol of a forbidden romance between two young gods during the creation of a planet.[old folk-tale chansoo x au]





	1. a million dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yennolenno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yennolenno/gifts).



> a/n: hi guys! - so this is another off season fantasy piece for me c: this was written as a now-late birthday gift for my lovely bud yen and her equally as lovely artwork ! i wish i could give you a better gift, but alas much distance is between us so this will do for now but ;-; one day, okay! 
> 
> this piece is separated into two parts and like MR, the editing has been quite time-consuming so i will post the second part very very shortly. It’s fantasy-based, but no great mythological references included so take it the way you like ^^ it’s just your usual dose of mind-numbing, heart-squishing romance. there is some sadness! but bc my angst offering for 2018 is already cooking, i can guarantee that this won’t end sad c: plus it was written partially to ‘a million dreams’ from tgs on repeat *__*
> 
> okay thank you guys! be well always! and this is the lovely [doodle](https://twitter.com/yennolenno/status/994952554650812421) that inspired all of this !! look how cute ;___; ❤ 
> 
>  
> 
> *

*

 

 

Yesterday, the patient in bed 12 gained a new neighbour.

After his previous neighbour -- a middle-aged salesman -- was taken for surgery, he was replaced by an elderly lady suffering from a nasty ankle fracture after a fall. He knew this after overhearing her conversations with the doctor. She had a high-pitched voice -- friendly but rested in the quality of tone that borderlined on _shouting_ almost all of the time. 

The patient rather enjoyed her when she wasn’t talking. She hummed when she was left on her own; and it had to be said that her voice in that state was far more tolerable. She sung sweetly, vibrations rippling through the tune, seamlessly adding character. She also smelled very nice. The patient always caught a whiff of fragrant fuchsia whenever her curtain happened to be drawn during rounds. 

At times he would be tempted to speak to her. Compliment her on her singing. Ask her about the weather - or her great grandchildren and whether they were enjoying primary education. But he was rather shy.

Even now, as he sat on his bed, cross-legged, terrifyingly aware that he hadn’t spoken to a person in days, he felt overwhelmed by the irrational timidness that gripped a person whenever they dared themselves to speak to anyone new. 

“Knock knock.” 

The patient turned his head as he heard the sound of the plastic curtain around his bed being tugged. 

“Come in,” the patient greeted with his usual smile, lips a tad dry. 

The voice wasn’t of his doctor or the afternoon nurse. The only remaining candidates were alternative healthcare providers -or the porters and the cleaners.

He wasn’t expecting visitors so he was understandably curious when the visitor spoke again.

“How are you today?” He was pulling a chair to the side of the bed. It was a tad presumptuous considering that the patient hadn’t invited him to yet but he retired to following the noise and the movements, more curious than bothered, “Did you know I was coming? I’m the storyteller, if you didn’t know. Nice to meet ya.” 

A storyteller? The patient was certain he hadn’t heard of those in the ward activities list. It wasn’t something he would expect. But it would surely beat sitting around here on his own pondering on his neighbours’ lives like a maniac.

“I’m good,” the patient answered, before leaning across with more interest, “A storyteller? Are you sure you don’t want the directions to the children’s ward?”

The visitor laughed -- accentuating the warmth and depth of his voice. The sound of it made the patient feel all soft inside like it had somehow crept in and tenderised a few of the aches that his own loneliness had knocked into him. This was the plus of meeting new people. There was so much individuality in the way that people spoke. It was always fascinating.

“I’ve been,” the visitor continued, “and stories aren’t just for children. I read all sorts of stories for different people. Everyone can use a good story once in a while and I can reassure you I’ve got a few good ones if you’re willing.”

“I’m willing,” the patient said with a cool shrug.

“Thought you might be.” 

There was something quietly charming about the storyteller and the easy flourish of his responses. The patient thought with a sad smile how it reminded him of a neighbour he’d had before. He had been an actor and at his bedside, he would recite charming lines from various monologues and make all the nurses blush. At the time, this performance had been his defence -- his day cushion -- to hide his vulnerabilities for when he cried senselessly into his pillows at night.

“Great,” the patient answered, before turning his head towards the direction of the window, “Well we can start now if you like. If you hurry you can still catch the eclipse…”

“The what?”

The patient pointed a pale finger at the direction of his window. He had asked to be moved to the corner bed after the actor passed away from a surgical complication. 

“The… eclipse! The total solar eclipse is happening in a half hour or so. It’s visible from here apparently.”

“Oh, the eclipse,” the visitor didn’t sound as moved by the matter as others. It was strange. All day, it was the only topic that lived on people’s tongues aside from the usual medical-related complaints. “Funnily enough I have a story about the eclipse if you’d like to hear it.”

Funnily. 

“Sure.” The patient said before smiling broadly, “It’s probably the closest thing I’ll get to seeing it.” 

“Huh? Oh. I’ll make it good then yeah?” The visitor’s voice was lovely. It overfilled with sincerity; not the impersonal kind that doctors gave. The patient couldn’t quite grasp whether that was really true or if it was just the solitude but his anticipation for the story was certainly on the rise.

“It’s to do with a legend here. _The Heart of The Sun_ , have you heard of it?” 

“Yes.” The patient affirmed.

“Oh? What do you know about it?”

“I grew up here so I know what everyone should. It’s the one with the… _glowing tree_. That’s the one right?”

The patient didn’t feel the urge to explain any more about it because he wasn’t sure that there was anyone in this locality that hadn’t heard the legend of the mysterious _glowing tree_ that shone unnaturally in the dark. It had become a lasting symbol for their town -- as etched into their identity as the local peach breads that the whole country had turned into a trend food. 

The tree itself was as fanciful as any legendary figure. Only a few existing articles alleged the physical existence of the tree: a scattering of first-hand accounts from lost people in the woods finding guidance in the unholy winter dim -- vivid sketches from a psychic’s dreams -- but nobody in their history had gone as far as presenting any concrete evidence that such a tree actually existed.

So it lived on in people’s imaginations and dreams; on the tips of drunken tongues; on various town memorabilia; as _real_ as any other folktale ever told. 

“How about the tale between the earth god and the sky god?” the visitor asked, curiosity lacing his voice, a little more doctor-like, “Does it ring a bell?”

The patient frowned as he drew a blank.

“Can’t say it does.”

“Great. Would you like to hear that one then?” 

The patient nodded eagerly.

“Great,” the visitor repeated. “It’s my favourite story so I can tell it to you now without looking at the book.”

The visitor patted the cover of his book loudly for emphasis. 

“I’m lucky then.” the patient said dryly, before settling his back against the bed and murmuring, “Do you mind if I lie down whilst you tell it to me? I’m a bit tired. I promise I won’t doze off.” 

“Sure.” 

“Thanks.”

Settling his head against the pillows, the patient let his breathing rest with the pace of the small familiar set of sounds within the room. The slow artificial clicks and beeps of machinery. The messy rustle of drawers opening and papers being moved. In the distance, he also heard his neighbour’s lovely humming and it was a calming fixture to latch on to as the stranger began his tale. 

The storyteller’s voice was severely still - a guiding aloof voice that enveloped the patient deeper into the mysterious dark and sent him right to where the story could guide him free.

“Imagine a time,” the tale began, “when this was planet was nothing but a scorched ball of earth. A time of simplicity and serenity -- when the fate of the world depended not on its people but the synchronous actions of the gods that ruled it. The divine, then, was comprised of two main bodies. The gods that ruled the skies and the heavens - and the gods that occupied the earth itself…”
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    
    “.... the goddess of earth, Mother of all nature, had many sons at that time: all of them blessed with the immense and commanding elemental powers to create and destroy. Despite her best intentions, the young gods grew up tough but prideful. As they grew stronger, they also grew barbarous. The planet suffered with their neglect.
    
    
    
    The youngest of her sons was born through her sorrows as she recognised the planet’s continued suffering. 
    
    
    
    When he was born, he was already unlike his brothers: small and delicate-looking, doted on by all those who saw him. He was raised with the same abilities as his siblings but the young god showed even from a young age that he felt allied with the world and its needs. Instead of pride, he felt an inner need to provide, to create, to _love_. 
    
    
    
    In his mother’s eyes, this already made him stronger than any of them. 
    
    
    
    The young earth god’s fate was sealed then. He became empowered with the ambition to deliver the bare empty earth the means to flourish. But the path his story took changed on the day that the heavens broke open and a young god, hailed from those who ruled the skies, fell to the same earth.
    
    
    He was the eldest child of the god of the sun. The most superior of all who ruled the heavens.
    
    
    And from this single instance alone, the paths their long lives would take changed forever…” 
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

The earth was black. All of the little grasses -- the aforementioned _greenies_ \-- he had spent so long practicing to grow had withered into a sickly brown, all dead. The scene brought such horror to the young god’s heart heart that his first response was to sink hopelessly to his knees, as the black that ravaged his creations began to swell in him. 

He closed his eyes and it sunk; but it rose again as his fingers grazed the plants which drooped at his touch and lay splayed and charred along his feet.

Furious, the young earth god, Kyungsoo, wiped the dirt from his face as he approached the figure that had caused all the damage in the first place. 

The assailant had landed with force - creating a semi-circular crater that scarred the beautiful earth. 

“OH!” cried the sky god, hands reaching for his bright red hair, as he sat up sputtering out dirt and dust, “To which hell did my teacher banish me? What a hideous place!” 

Kyungsoo felt his insides squirm as he breathed deeply through his nose. He glared at the figure, colour rising to his cheeks, heat shooting up to his head, to the very middle of his skull, before he felt a very cool hand press against the precise point to console it. 

“Kyungsoo! Are you okay? What’s happened here!” said a flustered voice.

Their exchange attracted the attention of the crater god who was staring at them now, “You!” he called over with an arrogant huff, “Tell me where I am!”

Kyungsoo looked hopelessly at his cousin-slash-guardian, Junmyeon, a water-god, before wrapping his arms around the older god’s middle as he began to hysterically _wail_. He cried and cried with force until the ground beneath him began to tremble and drowned out the frightened cries of the abandoned sky-god as icy water filled his crater with merciless speed.

“Stop! Stop it! Do you not know who I am!” screeched the young sky god as he was pulled into the swirling water.

Sniffling, the young earth god turned and watched the display, his eyes sore and brimming with tears.

“Junmyeon! He killed my greenies! They’re all _dead_!” complained the little god as his guardian soothed him with a gentle pat on the head.

Moments later and the sky would darken with a splash of angry purples and blacks. In the distance, a violent clap of thunder.

Three ominous howls from the sky and a figure appeared, rescuing the screaming god from the whirlpool. 

The young earth god, too frightened to be apart from his guardian after all he’d seen, clung to his waist, still sniffling as parts of the conversation between the two older guardians fleeted in and out of his hearing.

“... are you insane, Junmyeon? He is the eldest. His father will have you _crushed_.” Jongdae the thunder god sighed, pinching the young sky god’s ear as he stood soaked and embarrassed beside him. 

“... he was in my territory, Jongdae. This is all on you. Look how frightened Kyungsoo is! If he was hurt in anyway, think of the consequences!” Junmyeon responded as he placed a protective hand on Kyungsoo’s head. 

“Chanyeol, apologise!” Jongdae urged. 

“Take me home, Jongdae!” cried Chanyeol who had launched into his own show of despair, tears running down his feverishly hot cheeks, “I want to go home!” 

“You better bring him back here to work off his damages,” Junmyeon cautioned as Kyungsoo peeked, observing meekly as the red-haired god clung to his guardian in a similar manner, “I don’t want to have to raise this with the assembly.”

“He will.” Jongdae placed an arm over the little god, sighing again, “I’d appreciate if you kept this all to yourself.” 

There was a grunt of acknowledgement between the older gods before the two who belonged to the skies vanished.

“Why did you tell him to come back? I never want him to come here again!” Kyungsoo announced the moment they left as he looked up at Junmyeon who could only toss his hair in amusement.

Knowing the careful line he must tread, Junmyeon delivered his response in a soft voice as he wiped Kyungsoo’s swollen eyes with soft thumbs. The little god was sniffling, chest still hiccuping from the ordeal. 

“He must repay what he owes. Gods that hail from the sky are already too insolent. They need to learn that their tricks will not be tolerated here.” Junmyeon said as he laughed, “You know… he looks around the same age as you. Maybe you’ll like each other! You’re probably in need of a playmate.”

“I have my greenies. I don’t need a playmate.” Kyungsoo said, horrified at the thought of playing with _he_ who had murdered all that he had worked on.

Waddling away from his guardian, the little god proceeded on to clean around the damaged area with deep concentration. The task was not without its heartache: for with each fallen cutting he picked up, the young Kyungsoo shed a small tear, unable to bear the thought that all such promise had been wasted.

All because of a young impish little sky god and his crater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo’s plan to not interact with the young sky god who had offended him so much went on successfully for a surprisingly long while. 

Each time Chanyeol was sent down by his guardian to work on helping the earth god with the damage, the earth god chose to hide from him with pronounced effect. The sky god was therefore reduced to spend his time in this partial perdition with Kyungsoo’s tough-talking guardian, Junmyeon, who still looked half-ready to douse him in ocean water at any time.

“So, why did you fall to earth that day, huh?” Junmyeon asked as he suspiciously assessed the little god with the pointy ears, sat cross-legged on the earth floor. There was not a smudge of dirt on his smooth and shimmery clothing -- making it seem striking against the layers of grime around him.

“I dunno,” Chanyeol pouted, before adding a quieter, “I might have tried… to steal… a chariot…” 

“You did _what?_ ”

At the horror of the tone, the little god began to cry again, clearly tired of the questions and intimidated by the much stronger god across him.

“I didn’t m--mean to m--make anyone upset! I was d--dared to do it! I’m sorry!” 

Junmyeon, who was rapidly beginning to think that the two crybabies would get along swimmingly, sighed and said a loud, “Well, it’s Kyungsoo that you have to apologise to. Not me.” 

“How c-can I?” hiccuped the young god, “When he k-keeps hiding?” 

Junmyeon rose from his seat and stepped towards the young god, pausing at the edge of the crater which was already covered in soft brown earth. He raised his foot to step before pausing mid-way, and catching the red head’s shaky gaze,

“I think you’ll find him,” he said knowingly, as he gestured to the crater with his thumb, nodding, “He’s not _that_ good at hiding.” 

 

 

Junmyeon left moments later, curious as to what would follow but not curious enough to stay around. 

 

 

 

In the middle of the crater, a stray tuft of green peaked just above the surface of the dust, almost invisible to the eye but definitely invisible to a carelessly poised sandal. 

Chanyeol was careful in his approach -- uneasy enough that he decided to lower to his knees. He reached across, lips mumbling quiet grievances, and brushed it bravely with his index finger. It vibrated against his touch. It had a peculiar texture. 

Carefully, he edged himself closer to the floor until his lips were almost touching the protruding leaf, before whispering,

“I’m sorry… Kyungsoo the earth god. I didn’t mean to fall on your grass.”

Beneath him, a scandalised voice rumbled out.

“They’re not grass! They’re _greenies_!” 

And the young sky god found himself screaming in shock as he took a direct hit to the stomach from an invisible whip of force.

Junmyeon would be back at his side in _seconds_.

“Chanyeol! Are you okay!” he cried out, as the small god sat up, dusting his face from where he had rolled in the dirt.

“I’m okay!” Chanyeol said meekly, looking down at his clothes which were completely dirtied and splashed by earth. Against the sun, his attire continued to gleam but there were spots of black where the sun couldn’t pierce. 

“Kyungsoo!” Junmyeon scolded, “Get out here _now!_ ”

“No! It’s okay!” Chanyeol coughed, a sputter of dust leaving his lips, as he looked up at Junmyeon pleadingly, “They’re greenies. It was my fault! I’ll remember to be careful for next time!”

“Next time?” Junmyeon squeaked, genuinely worried for the young god, “Chanyeol, I would rather invoke a closure to your punishment than for you--”

“No, it’s really okay!” 

The young god appeared almost excited as he scrambled to his feet. He didn’t once wipe his clothes or his face as those from the sky often did, choosing instead to shout out another apology to the earth god as he summoned urgently for his guardian.

 

 

-
    
    
    “The story of the _The Heart of The Sun_ began here.
    
    Seeking reconciliation, the young sky god returned to earth with a token to compensate for his wrongdoings.
    
    It would be the first of many tokens that would be passed down from the heavens in the pockets of a young innocent god seeking friendship in another.”
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Chanyeol returned to the crater, planting the closest thing that the heavens had to Kyungsoo’s _greenies_ , which happened to be tiny gleaming emerald stones from a distant star. He knew it wasn’t what he had promised but he had tried his best to find the most accurate imitations of the young earth god’s creations. Until it was explained to him that it was a pointless hope.

The earth god was a creator and what he created was his own. 

So he chose the next best thing. Beautiful unique tokens from the skies; hoping they would charm the earth god as much as they had charmed him. 

“They might grow a lot faster than your greenies. They use them to make _stars_ ,” Chanyeol told the crater as he planted them in a tidy circle around the tuft of green which was already expanding into a nice square, “They might glimmer too.” 

Clasping his hands solemnly, Chanyeol blessed the stones in a speculative routine he’d seen the older gods perform.

When he opened his eyes again, a young figure had appeared in front of him, nosing curiously at the stones which gleamed against the heat of the sun. His face was round and dusty and his clothes were comparably tatty and dirty. There was no doubting that he was the young earth god whom had been crying into his guardian’s hip the day he fell to earth. 

“Woah.” Kyungsoo murmured, “What are they?”

“Stars.” Chanyeol answered, internally delighted at the other’s obvious show of interest.

“What are those?” 

“Um.” 

“Do they grow?”

“They might! I haven’t tried yet.” 

“What do they look like when they grow?”

“I told you I don’t know yet!”

Kyungsoo looked too intrigued to really listen. He poked each stone -- five in total -- with a stubby finger, blinking earnestly at both stone and owner as a show of his inner suspicions. 

“Where did you get them?” was Kyungsoo’s most strict question and the one query that the young sky god had dreaded.

As if on time, in the distance, loomed the approaching sound of _thunder_.

“I… took them from my house without asking!” Chanyeol squeaked, before frantically covering them up in dirt as he planted a finger on his lips, “If you want them. Don’t tell Jongdae, okay?” 

“I…”

“They’re yours. You just have to be quiet.”

The young earth god was left with no choice but to nod.

 

 

 

 

As the two were later questioned by their respective guardians, Kyungsoo found himself at the central focus of both Junmyeon and Jongdae’s intense questioning as they observed the variance in his behaviour towards his counterpart sky god. 

“Did Chanyeol do something?” Junmyeon quipped, “Kyungsoo?”

Chanyeol blinked and watched in awe as Kyungsoo nodded.

“He said he would come back and help me plant all my greenies. He said he would make a dirt-promise to me but he hasn’t done it.” 

“Oh.” Junmyeon and Jongdae exchanged a glance before the water deity jabbed a finger at the red-haired god, “Go on then. Fulfil your promise.”

“Huh? What’s that?” Chanyeol asked, lips parted in confusion.

There was no chance of a timely escape as Kyungsoo approached him with a handful of dirt and said a simple,

“You have to eat the dirt. That’s how I know you mean it.”

“Eat… dirt?” the sky god gasped, swallowing thickly, as he fixed his gaze on Kyungsoo’s unmoving expression, “Are… you sure?” 

“You said you would.” Kyungsoo’s voice was perfectly serious but behind his eyes shone a familiar twinkle of mischief, “So… eat the dirt.” 

With a quiet whimper, Chanyeol saw no way to abdicate and opened his mouth obediently.

The two older guardians grimaced, deciding mutually not to question the inner and youthful oddities that resided within the hearts of young gods at their age.

 

 

 

 

Clutching his tummy, humiliated, the young sky god plodded away in defeat, doing his utmost to scrape the dirt off his tongue with his silk sleeve.

Just as he was leaving, he winced as he found himself tugged back by the young earth god’s voice whispering a quiet _thank you_ in his ear.

It was a gentle sound but it was fiercely vivid. A feat made even more impressive by the fact that the young earth god was nowhere near him. 

Things certainly worked differently out here, Chanyeol mused, as he offered his new friend a playful salute. 

The other god responded with a smile as he returned to the crater, falling to the ground as the skies cleared, hoping inside that Chanyeol could return again to tell him all about his new mysterious greenies.

 

 

 

 

 

The next time came sooner than either of them thought. Chanyeol returned with an armful of (legally) borrowed tools, comprised of materials Kyungsoo was in awe of and sought to imitate. They were solid and _shiny_ \-- a magical contrast to the rudimentary crafts he had learned from his older brothers. 

“Can I help you now?” Chanyeol asked keenly as he followed Kyungsoo along to the crater, dragging their sets of equipment behind him.

“Yes.” Kyungsoo said with a nod. 

“Does that make us friends?” 

The question was strange. In the background, Kyungsoo became aware of Junmyeon watching from afar. He almost swore he saw him send a thumbs up their way. The young earth god resisted sending a wave of dirt along his way. 

“I want to be friends. I like it here,” Chanyeol gushed openly, smiling around him, “It’s bare but it’s nice.”

Falling quiet, he observed Kyungsoo’s attire -- easily identifiable by its tattered sleeves and loose worn material. He glanced down at his own and tugged at it forcefully, hoping for the same effect. It wasn’t an easy task because of the quality of the material but he was sure he could provoke some damage using a rock or two from around here.

“Do you… really want to be my friend?” Kyungsoo asked uncertainly as he tossed the red head behind him a questioning look.

“I do!” was the happy reply.

“Um okay.” Kyungsoo said with a shy smile, “We can be friends then.”

Before he’d even said another word, Chanyeol’s much longer arm was already hooked over his shoulder and they walked together across the bare earth, headed for the crater, comfortable beneath the open sunny sky.

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “With time, the young gods became close but unlikely friends. Unlikely, for those who hailed from the heavens, and those from the earth, were perceived universally as opposing forces, fated to be divided.
    
    Yet, like opposing poles, the two were attracted and a strong bond was forged. 
    
    The young sky god descended to the earth frequently even after he repaid the damage he had done. In his trips, he brought stories and gifts from heaven, inspiring the earth-bound god with the premise of infinite richness and beauty.”
    
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Friendship. Kyungsoo had never truly experienced it before. He was certain that the closest bond he had to another was the earth herself. To experience the close company of another being brought with it a host of new insights: from the warmth of hugs, the satisfaction brought on by a friend’s smile, and the inevitable _loneliness_ that grew between visits.

Only after befriending Chanyeol did Kyungsoo realise how desolate the earth he lived on could be. It was so _bare_ ; and even though Chanyeol insisted that the wide open spaces and dusty surfaces possessed a unique charm, the earth-god truly longed for the places that he could only visit through his friend’s energetic descriptions. He wanted colour; sounds and smells and sights; a touch of _life_. A glimpse of true beauty. Like the places they celebrated in the heavens. 

Chanyeol was sympathetic to his envy so he always brought him gifts. They were often random and the element of surprise only magnified Kyungsoo’s excitement at receiving them. His favourite so far had been foods. The heavens had so many! 

“What’s it like? Do you like it? Tell me if you like it! Then I’ll bring more next time!” 

Kyungsoo winced as Chanyeol leaned across and peered at him, their noses almost touching, as he impatiently urged him on,

“Come on, Kyungsoo! Chew faster!”

The sky god, much like the heaven he described, was unceasingly energetic. He hated silence or stillness of any kind -- and sought for whatever he wanted with frantic devotion. The god’s impatience was something Kyungsoo was only now becoming accustomed to. He had spoken to Junmyeon about it, fearing that his calmness would bore his new best friend, but he learned that it was simply the way of the gods _above_. 

Life up there ran at a much faster pace so the gods themselves thrived to be the same. 

Although it had felt intimidating at the time, Kyungsoo actually enjoyed Chanyeol’s apparent hyperactivity. He was a welcomed anomaly in the otherwise mundane and slow rhythm to his life. For in a world that rarely changed, it was truly nice to feel out of step sometimes and be promised the chance to get swept away in something new and exciting.

“I like it,” Kyungsoo said finally as he consumed the entire thing with a glowing face.

The treat had been a sweet gooey _thing_. Freshly made; indulgent; sourced from the hardworking kitchens of Chanyeol’s residence. 

“It’s made from the syrup of goldenflies!” Chanyeol grinned, as he fluttered his fingers playfully, “They go buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” 

Kyungsoo followed the action before the sky god prodded him and ran the fingers up his arm, prompting the little earth god to explode into laughter.

“Don’t do that!” As retaliation, Kyungsoo thumped him hard on the arm as he landed backwards into a heap, the sunlight grazing his eyes.

“Don’t hit me!” cried Chanyeol as he fell on top of him, “or I’ll call Jongdae on you!”

“I’ll call Junmyeon first!”

The two continued to struggle, their laughter carried in the soft motions of the grasses. Eventually, Chanyeol grew weary and puffed out a breath, allowing his head to rest on Kyungsoo’s chest. 

The earth god grinned as he suddenly remembered something. With his hand, he propped up Chanyeol’s head by his cheeks and posed an excited,

“Oh! Before I forget! Do you want to see what I can do now? I learned it the other day!” 

“Sure!” Chanyeol’s eyes opened wide as he scrambled to sit up.

Arguably, this was one of their most favourite parts of the visit. Whilst Chanyeol showered Kyungsoo with gifts, the other returned the favour by presenting him the continuing strength of his new abilities. Unsurprisingly, his novice attempts tended to be prone to error -- the occasional dirt explosion or accidental mud-slide -- but Chanyeol was an eager audience and Kyungsoo rather enjoyed someone not criticising him for a change. Something Junmyeon and his older brothers were all too guilty of.

“Okay. Close your eyes!” Kyungsoo narrated as he scooped out a handful of the soft earth beneath them and patted it together.

The sky god obliged squeezing his facial features into an endearing scrunch with his limbs all tucked in.

Kyungsoo watched him, smiling fondly, as he shaped the earth with his delicate fingers. Chewing his bottom lip in concentration, he observed the sky god’s pointed features, lightly bronzed against the sun, his long red hair all tousled against his face with dust from all their playing. It was a face he had long grown accustomed of but he was sure he would never tire of seeing. 

“Okay. You can look now.”

Chanyeol opened a cautionary eye and gasped at the sight.

 

“Woah-- it’s me!” 

 

The little earth god’s present was a small hastily-crafted dirt sculpture of the little sky god’s head. All the recognisable elements, particularly the ears and hair, were present, signed off with the god’s tiny lips pinched into a familiar pout. 

“It won’t fall apart like the others.” Kyungsoo said sheepishly as Chanyeol took it from his hands and began to juggle it from one hand to the other.

“The others? You made more?” 

“Um, yes. I may have practiced a little bit.” Kyungsoo said as fast images of various Chanyeol-shaped dirt practice moulds entered his brain. 

“I love it! I love them!” announced the sky god as his arms swallowed the other into a tight embrace, “Well done!”

“Thanks,” the little earth god mumbled, feeling indescribably touched as his cheeks blushed a deep red, “I’ll keep practicing and… one day make big ones!”

The thought of adorning the deserted expanse around him with beautiful original constructions comprised of the earth’s natural ores almost brought tears to the earth god’s eyes. He dreamed of it so often that it struck an anthem in his heart whenever he thought of it: of creating something great and helpful and bringing the same pleasure to others as he had brought to his friend.

Admittedly, with his youth as a hamper, he had a long way to go. But with his broadening abilities bringing success in greenie-growing, and now _minor_ physical constructions, there was a sense of quiet confidence developing in the young earth god. A steely determination that was securing his dreams far ahead of his doubts -- reinforced strongly by the support of his close friend. 

“I want you to make really big ones! Big ones that can touch-- aaaaaall the way up to the sky and then you can see me!” Chanyeol exclaimed as he pulled his friend back and cheerily pointed at the heavens, “You’ll really love it Kyungsoo! It’s honestly the most beautiful place!”

“The most beautiful place,” echoed Kyungsoo as he followed his pointing and nodded dreamily, “I’d like that so much…” 

From where they were sat, the skies appeared close and mysteriously clear. Despite all of the stories that Chanyeol had told him, the earth god knew that what resided beyond the clouds was infinitely more wonderful in reality. And to see, even a fraction of the wonders of heaven, reflected on the earth he shaped, would be the ultimate achievement in his view.

“But first!” his friend began to pat the earth beneath him, shaking the earth god out of his thoughts, “I’ll make myself a Kyungsoo to give to you!” 

 

 

 

 

Eager as he was, the young sky god was no budding architect. The best that his craft could produce to immortalise his friend was a rather simple pile of dirt, rounded together into a soft circle, punctuated by two huge circles for eyes. 

Kyungsoo was certain that he would’ve been offended had the sky god not suddenly announced an enthusiastic,

“It’s pretty huh!” he offered it to him proudly with his hands outstretched, palms up, “Just like you!”

“Oh.” _Pretty_. “Um. Yes.”

With a polite nod, the earth god took it from him only to find himself freezing mid-motion as the dirt crumbled easily into nothing. Oh yes. He hadn’t performed the ritual yet. It was still just dirt.

He looked up at Chanyeol guiltily, recognising that the other was staring back at him -- and then within seconds they were _laughing_.

They laughed so much that a sharp and unnatural wind blew their way -- certainly a message from a travelling god demanding for a bit of afternoon peace.

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “... But there was immeasurable beauty on the earth too. 
    
    It was contained in the vision that the earth god had for his creations. His ideas were as enriching and as ambitious as anything else that the sky god had seen in the world beyond the clouds.
    
    And he soon grew deeply enchanted by him.” 
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

It was a cloudy day. Without the angry heat of the sun stalking their backs, the pair of young gods were able to explore further than ever. Trailing the head of a long stick against the cracked earth, Chanyeol glanced amusedly at the zig-zag trail he’d created behind them as Kyungsoo stood still and expelled a deep and dramatic breath.

“What’s up?” 

The sky god narrowed his eyes as he realised that the earth god had closed his eyes.

“Shh,” ordered Kyungsoo, “I’m imagining.”

“Imagining?” 

Chanyeol raised the stick and poked him lightly on the side. He did it twice before Kyungsoo grabbed the end of the object and prodded it firmly back in his direction, striking him instantly in the stomach.

“Ow.”

“Sorry.”

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Imagining was a very physical exercise for Kyungsoo. When moments of inspiration struck, he frequently fell quiet and threw himself fully into the present moment. The sky god was mystified by the whole thing but he let him do what he needed to, having realised that the things Kyungsoo came up with were often interesting to listen to. 

Sometimes they would be as benign as a tree; other times as wild and loose as giant beasts made out of butterflies that ran through thickets to help the bugs find their homes.

“So what is it this time?” the sky god asked.

“Big. _Enormous_. Rocks!” With as much drive as he could muster, Kyungsoo threw his small hands to the direction of the distant horizon and spread them out as if parting a pair of green thickets, “And they’ll be covered in purple! From top to the bottom!”

“A purple meadow?”

“It would be nice right?” Kyungsoo grinned as his hands remained in the air, as if holding the landscape upright, “And then at sunset, winged birds will fly by, and they’d settle on the top of the meadow.”

Peering between the earth god’s outstretched hands, the sky god pursed his lips together and imagined the large purple horizon and the winged birds with great might but found the images to be faded and passing.

“You see a lot don’t you?” Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo in a curious manner.

“Don’t you?” 

“Not like you.” The sky god said as he placed his hands behind his back, “You see the world in a way I don’t.”

“Well, that’s what I was born for.” Kyungsoo said, gaze remaining on the horizon as he smiled at the imaginary birds that fleetingly zipped past his head, remaining as shadows for now, but majestic all the same, “If I don’t give this world a chance, I don’t think anyone will!”

To Chanyeol, it seemed like a lot of pressure and a lot of work. Endeared by his friend’s efforts, he resisted scooping the earth god up into a surprise embrace (aware of how badly it was received the _last_ time) and decided to deliver his feelings by --

 

“Chanyeol!”

 

Trying to leap onto the smaller god’s back.

 

Gestures like these were tricky to try for the cheery sky god but he tried them anyway as he privately enjoyed getting a reaction out of the other. He was already taller than Kyungsoo by a noticeable margin but such a difference in height wouldn’t impede him.

With his arms looped around Kyungsoo’s neck, the sky god yelled as his weight was used by the other to drag his taller body with shocking strength directly from behind -- and to successfully flip him onto his back on the dusty earth floor. 

Whilst such games were commonplace between them, the pair of gods had always tried their best to avoid any physical damage -- especially because they were still a little inclined to shed a few tears when something ached too much. 

The sky god landed on his back with obvious force.

“Chanyeol!”

Kyungsoo was horrified and fell to the floor immediately. “I’m sorry--! My b-brother taught me-- are you--!”

Tears crept into the corner of his eyes as he watched the sky god sit up slowly, eyes dazed, as their gazes then jointly glanced at the small puddle of purple blossoms that had grown beneath him, cushioning his fall. They were glimmers from the meadows the earth god had envisioned and even he was left momentarily speechless by their appearance.

Kyungsoo then looked upon his hands in wonder.

“Woah, Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol retorted, totally unbothered as he began to clap, “Look at that!”

But the awe would slide rightfully away at the recognition that the other was safe.

And so, as Chanyeol stood up and readied to dust off his attire, he was met by a flustered Kyungsoo bounding right into his arms. The smaller god then buried his face into Chanyeol’s shoulder, losing all sense of pride as he did so.

“Hey! It’s okay Kyungsoo!” the sky god reassured him, ensuring to hug him back even more tightly, “We’re only playing!”

“Still.” Kyungsoo said with a pout as he lifted his chin and stared at the path behind him -- signposted by the zig-zag trail that Chanyeol had created -- “I don’t want you to not play with me anymore.”

“Never!” gasped Chanyeol, “That would never happen.”

“But… I keep doing things like this… and also… I can’t even make your stars grow,” the earth god said with a deep sigh. His lack of success with the buried stars continued to be a lasting grievance for him as he checked on them nearly every day.

Chanyeol, as usual, seemed fairly nonplussed. 

“You will one day. It will probably just appear like the purple blossom.” The sky god reassured him as he smiled brightly, “I really think you can make this world something, you know... and don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere because I want to see it too.”

The words shed a calming light on Kyungsoo’s thoughts. The young earth god smiled as he continued to stare at the trail, lost in his thoughts about Chanyeol and the wonderful purple meadow. 

Soon, a familiar flutter rose in his chest, and the zig-zag trace rose into an image of a rich flowing brook that drew all the way through the path. And the path? In a word, it _blossomed_ with life. What followed was such an unprecedented eruption of colour and matter that he found himself quickly overwhelmed by the need to recognise them all and pin them to memory. 

“Kyungsoo?”

The images vanished into the air at the sound of Chanyeol’s questioning tone.

“... are you okay?” 

Letting his fingers grip the fabric of the other’s cloak more tightly, Kyungsoo nodded as he then murmured,

“Thank you… for giving me a chance.” 

“Huh?”

A faint smile appeared on the earth god’s lips as he looked up into his friend’s ever kind eyes. 

“Thank you... for becoming my friend.”

Chanyeol’s expression softened into one of confusion. It was the sort of face he wore when he needed to take time to process a statement. 

“You’re welcome,” was his curt response as Kyungsoo allowed his arms to fall, thereby breaking their embrace, “I really like being your friend too.”

“I know you do,” Kyungsoo said with a laugh before beckoning for the other to follow him, “Now c’mon! We got lots of walking left to do!”

“Woo!”

The matter was quickly forgotten as the pair of gods ran across the open desert, stick faithfully marking the ground on which they leapt, creating more and more paths that would soon become the passages in which Kyungsoo’s worldly creations would thrive. 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “They played together for many days and noons for what seemed like an eternity.
    
    But things began to change as they grew up and their powers grew stronger.
    
    And the empty world which they had turned into their playground began to take its own shape….”
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Chanyeol stared at Kyungsoo intensely, counting with undivided interest, the number of freckles which had blossomed on the bridge of his nose. There were more today than last time. At least four more. Jongdae said that it was because the earth god had spent far too long working in the dirt and therefore it had started to make a home in him. 

Junmyeon on the other hand blamed Chanyeol completely. 

_You’re too bright. They’re practically little burn spots._

Placing his hands on his cheeks, the young god wondered intensely which was true. 

When that line of thought brought him no peace, he returned to what had initially occupied his brain in the very first place. 

At Kyungsoo’s mercy, the earth was evolving on a rapid rate. Each time he returned, there always seemed to be something new. Gone were the primitive bodies of water which Kyungsoo filled with tales of hungry beasts and silver-scaled sea-life -- they were becoming _real_ now and the same could be said about the landscape which was soaring around him.

Not all though. Some of his creations were still firmly rooted into the earth. One of which fell prey Chanyeol’s most recent descent. At the sight of the red buds crushed beneath his feet, the sky god had choked up. This guilt had not eased even after the earth god had reassured him that all was well. 

“Are you going to help me or not?” asked Kyungsoo tensely, frowning at the sight of the mooning sky god as he rested on his stomach fiddling with grass blades. 

“I am,” sighed Chanyeol as he resumed his position and aided the earth god as they dug up the _emeralds_ which they had hastily buried in this crater once upon a time.

They were reminded of the small stones recently after Chanyeol reminisced about their first meeting and how far they had come since then. 

“Hm.” Kyungsoo said, scrunching his nose, freckles included, as he plucked a stone from the ground and inspected it, “It hasn’t grown.” A huff. “That’s a shame.”

“Maybe it’s not meant to grow.” 

“That’s impossible.” Kyungsoo said with a smile, turning to the sky god as he placed the stone in Chanyeol’s right hand, “You promised me a star on earth that day.” 

“Well I can’t just make it _grow_. I’m not like you.” Chanyeol sighed, looking down as his feet scuffed against the dirt.

He couldn’t hide his frustrations as well as he wanted to. Without thought, the young sky god sighed deeply, hands constricting into fists, as a noticeable shadow fell over his bright eyes. He felt the stone in his hand: a reminder of the much less complicated past he yearned for and the complex future he was now handling.

But everything would stunt at the sensation of Kyungsoo’s hand reaching for his -- first unfurling the fists, letting the stone -- the star -- fall to the earth floor as he laced their fingers together comfortingly.

“Everything here grows more when you visit,” revealed the earth god with a soft voice, as he placed a finger under Chanyeol’s chin and raised it to meet him, “Look.”

The sky god cast his eyes around the breadth of silent wondrous green. He inhaled the air, letting the quietness wash over him, but the same serene picture met his gaze.

“I don’t see it.”

“I can.” Kyungsoo’s eyes were bright as he looked around, “I see it all the time.” Then he squeezed their hands together. “If this is about the blossoms, it was an accident. I’m not angry.” 

“What if I’m too much?” Chanyeol brushed his finger tenderly against the cluster of dots on Kyungsoo’s nose, “I don’t ever want to be too much.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Everything is coming together.”

“And?”

“ _And_ what if I’m out of place.” Chanyeol said with a frown, “This isn’t a playground for us anymore, Kyungsoo. I can’t be coming down here and drawing attention to myself.”

The suddenness of the sentiment shocked Kyungsoo as much as it hurt him. There was so much that the sky god didn’t understand about their connection; and if he had then perhaps such wrongful thoughts would weigh on him less. Blinking rapidly, the earth god’s dark eyes lowered to the floor in thought, before he delivered a firm instruction.

“Come here. I’ll show you something.”

Taking his friend by the hand, Kyungsoo guided them, wordless, deeper into the central thickets. Blades of grass brushed their bare ankles as they were welcomed into the small sea of green. Occasionally a different colour would appear -- buds of gold, of deep strange violet buds -- promising whispers of things that were to come.

“Here.”

They reached a clearing. Across them was the oldest of Kyungsoo’s greenies -- his _plantations_ \-- a pair of skinny trees with thin browning leaves that drooped down, wing-like and wistful, towards the ground. Chanyeol had seen them often enough to know what to expect from them but he would find himself bowled over by the sight of Kyungsoo reaching up to pluck what appeared to be a _fruit_ from the tree.

“I was waiting for it to ripen more before I gave it to you,” said Kyungsoo as he brushed the fruit, dressed in a pleasant red skin, and offered it to him, “But I think you can have it now.” 

Chanyeol appeared hesitant but Kyungsoo insisted. He released their hands and replaced his fingers with the fruit. 

Too intrigued to decline, the sky god took the first bite and his expression changed _instantly_. Amazement filled his eyes -- casting all fragments of the shadow away -- as a sticky-like sweetness filled his mouth, golden in colour, as tantalizing to the taste-buds as anything he had ever had. 

“This is amazing!” he spluttered as the liquid spilled over the corner of his lips and stained his fingers, “It tastes exactly like--”

“Buzz buzz,” mimicked Kyungsoo, holding his hands behind his back as he watched his companion eat away, “After you left one day… I thought about growing something you could eat here. Then I found it. It’s--”

“ _Delicious_ ,” intruded Chanyeol as he took his second bite and shut his eyes to compress his delight. 

“Yours.” Kyungsoo corrected, eyes gazing at the swell of liquid that glazed the sky god’s lips. He stepped towards him, motivated sincerely by the urge to brush it away, “I wouldn’t have been able to make these things alone…” 

Lifting to his tiptoes, the earth god then swiped his thumb against the other’s gleaming lips. The touch was innocent; barely _there_ ; but then Chanyeol’s lips parted slightly, and at the sense of the other god’s breath, his _heat_ , on the surface of his own skin, the moment became something else altogether.

Their eyes met; an unspoken curiosity shared.

Never had Kyungsoo’s chest pounded so violently.

 

So he surrendered. In a single motion, Kyungsoo’s lips replaced his thumb; and with a brave breath, the earth god claimed the first tentative touch. 

 

How funny. To think that Kyungsoo’s first taste of the fruit would be allied with the memory of tasting Chanyeol’s lips for the first time.

The kiss was short and chaste but felt indescribably important. 

It was a perfectly pleasant moment up until Chanyeol moved his own lips and the curiosity became _too_ much.

Kyungsoo winced, stepping backwards like he had been stung.

At the sight of the fruit, abandoned and leaking on the floor, Kyungsoo looked at the sky god with a shared look of horror before he understandably _bolted_.

 

 

 

 

Sharp strokes of warm sunlight flashed in his eyes as he ran and ran. His cheeks were red but he was smiling, smiling, laughing, laughing -

Behind him, the sky god was panting his name and what sounded like flustered apologies.

“Kyungsoo!” cried Chanyeol, lungs burning, “Come back!”

“Only if you promise not to kiss me again!” came the arrogant riposte.

The sky god grew hot with embarrassment. “It was you that kissed _me!_ ”

They caught up with each other. Against the horizon behind him, the smiling earth god shone more wonderfully than ever. The tall sky god became overwhelmed with the sight and playfully reached for him with pouted lips as he sought for another kiss - 

“Come here!”

“No!”

And they chased each other through the land for hours, until all the miseries and the mirth of their long afternoon was forgotten - rediscovered only in their solitude, in their dreams, on the opposing ends of their universe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later, on one of their more quieter afternoons, the subject of Kyungsoo’s freckles would be summoned. The pair of gods laid side-by-side in a bed of greens, tall blades of grass towering over them, concealing their conversations from heaven’s probing eyes. 

They had spent their afternoon bathing and playing in a cool river. Chanyeol was playing with a pebble he’d scooped up from the bank after Kyungsoo had caught him blankly staring at him for what had been an obnoxious number of times that afternoon.

“I really want to know where your freckles are from.” Chanyeol said as he toyed with the pebble, focusing his eyes on the object and successfully suppressing the urge to turn in Kyungsoo’s direction.

“It doesn’t matter where they’re from,” mused the earth god, thoughtful, as his fingers brushed against his nose, “I like them.”

“I like them too.” The sky god hummed innocently, before he reran his words and blanched, his grip around the pebble tightening ever so slightly.

Kyungsoo’s fingers proceeded on to prod the sky god at his side and he laughed as the other winced, his despair growing as the the pebble slipped out of his grasp and fell onto the floor.

“Hey!” 

Naturally, the sky god sought to retaliate and he rolled over with every intention of striking the other back, only to be stunted at the recognition that the freckles he’d openly admired were now very close to his own face-- as the face, that possessed said freckles, was also _very_ close.

Kyungsoo looked at him expressionlessly despite it being clear that this was a situation he’d orchestrated.

“Why do you stare at me funny?” the earth god asked in a whisper, shuffling closer until their noses touched.

“Funny?” The sky god choked.

“Is it because you want to kiss me?”

In the presence of such a bold question, Chanyeol drew such a blank that he couldn’t even hold it together long enough to express a credible excuse. Instead the sky god stared with a look of fixed confusion oblivious to how the shards of light that peeked from the heavens, which brushed Kyungsoo’s cheeks, were slowly beginning to intensify.

It wouldn’t take long for the change in the environment to be noted by the other.

“Hey-- don’t burn me!” the earth god accused, shielding his face with a hand, “I was just asking.”

“Oh! Sorry!” The sky god quickly hovered a much larger hand over the other to protect him from the thick rays. The action brought them much closer together -- with the final inches of distance vanishing as Chanyeol then lowered his fingers to gently caress the face he’d been admiring. 

Silent, he traced the skin with studious care, following the invisible line connecting freckles and faint smudges of dirt, until they drifted over the shapely curve of the earth god’s upper lip. It perplexed Chanyeol then; how someone that possessed a face so markedly distinct from the auroral symmetry of the heavenly bodies could look so pleasing to him.

In his stillness, the light had mellowed. Kyungsoo brushed his fingers away with an embarrassed huff. But even then, the moment they had shared seemed to extend and spread, forcing the forest fall still around them.

“Do you want to see the skies, Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked as he stared at him in wonder, “I can try and bring you there now if you like.”

“The skies?” echoed the earth god, as he frowned, “You’ve figured out how to do it?”

Chanyeol nodded with a confident smile. “I’ve been practicing.”

Kyungsoo considered it before nodding his head once.

“Okay. But I can’t be up there for long.” 

“Really?” Chanyeol hadn’t expected him to agree so easily.

“Yes.” Kyungsoo affirmed, “Just tell me what to do.”

“I’ll have to hold you like this.” 

The sky god draped his arm awkwardly over the other. The radiance of the light began to grow again as Kyungsoo wrapped his own arm over him until they were chest-to-chest.

“Next?” 

Kyungsoo’s eyes began to ache as the light began to weigh against his eyelids. He shut them quickly, pressing his face against Chanyeol as he focused on the soothing depth of his voice,

“Just let the light take you.” 

“Okay.”

“--and don’t let go of me!”

“I won’t.”

It was the most bizarre sensation. His body, despite feeling completely weighed against the sky god, also began to feel contrastingly _light_. The heat of the sun was palpable on his skin, a distant sort of discomfort, but he felt its density most of all. It was a cage and he was secured inside it, both disturbed and enchanted.

As he continued to swim thoughtlessly in the temporary dark, he suddenly became aware of a building pressure far beneath him. It struck panic into his state and he roused with a choked breath as the sensation of something solid wound around his waist, tightening, squeezing, as it seized him and his companion back down to earth with boundless force. 

 

 

_Oomph_.

 

They fell together in a heap. 

“Kyungsoo! Are you being kidnapped! Are you kidnapping him? How very _dare_ you!” screeched Junmyeon as he ran up to the two gods splayed out on the grasses. 

Merciless, he flicked a groaning Chanyeol on the forehead. He then flicked his own ward on the forehead.

“And you-- how _dare_ you let him kidnap you!”

Kyungsoo was breathing heavily. His chest felt unbelievably cramped and the bones around his hip were still throbbing.

“What happened?” he mouthed as Junmyeon sighed at him.

“You really think your mother would let you be taken from her so easily?” 

“Oh.” It all added up somehow. Heaven appeared to be no match for the protectiveness of a mother.

“Yeah, _oh_.” 

“Chanyeol, are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked nervously as he crawled towards the sky god who was rubbing the flesh of his arms, obviously disappointed as he nodded.

As Junmyeon strolled away, content with his quick and brutal scolding of the pair, Kyungsoo comfortingly reached across and patted the sky god’s head.

“You did well. It was cool.” 

“I was almost there,” murmured Chanyeol with a deep sigh, “I’ll really take you there one day.” 

“Maybe when we’re older.”

“Yeah.” 

In a way, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but share in his dismay. However, the earth god had grown up believing that there was a rationale behind why things happened in the way they did and so, every disappointment could be seen as a stepping stone for greater promise. This meant that whenever fate dictated that he would see the sky; it would be the right time to see it.

And the kiss they would share now; the earth god believed that fate had dictated its course too because he had never felt an urge so powerful.

Lifting the sky god’s face with his hands, Kyungsoo kissed him tenderly on the lips until the sky god was left with no choice but to _laugh_ just so he could draw a breath of air in.

They fell back into the grasses and the dirt with ease as Chanyeol held his friend close, dwelling in the distant scent of spring on his skin, and the faint touch of heaven’s heat on his lips, as they kissed until their lips were sore and they fell prey to sleep beneath the friendly open skies.

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “They grew older together.
    
    With time, they would exchange their youthful airs for higher responsibilities and powers…”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

The barren image of the earth had long bled into obscurity. Planting himself in the center, the earth god glanced across the breadth of land he loved, emotional, as he sensed it pulsate with more and more life and color. Whilst before his creations would reside as creatures that drifted airily in his dreams, now he had the capacity to make them _real_. And he did so, letting the existing land breathe life and sustain each other as ecosystems began to form, more complex than the next, and the world which had once been so bare and hopeless became embellished with promise. 

Now beginning his prime, Kyungsoo had also grown up -- crafted into a god that on every level resembled his brothers in stature: dark haired, hard-jawed, with sturdy muscled limbs and calloused sunburnt skin. But his face remained kind in nature, still brushed with dirt and freckles and large eyes that were lively and thoughtful.

Chanyeol the sky god was the opposite. By now, he was fostering the auroral features expected of a being from the heavens: soft unblemished skin, long elegant limbs, a broad open posture and a handsome face to match. His hair often shimmered, a red tide of short curls, admired equally by the wind and sun. 

Their friendship continued to thrive as freely as the earth around them. Having outgrown their guardians, Chanyeol continued to visit devotedly, having perfected the technique of landing without scarring the earth. The earth herself, Kyungsoo recognised, was also now acquainting with his print. 

They worked more closely on the earth now. The more growth, the more the earth depended on the skies for nourishment. And the more Kyungsoo depended on Chanyeol for the rare joys that brought him out of his sharp work focus. 

“Do you like it?”

He still brought Kyungsoo gifts. Today’s offering was a musical instrument from the heavens comprised of a golden U-shaped bodice held together by a set of taut silver strings.

“Yes, but I don’t know what it is.” Kyungsoo admitted, holding the instrument and its silvery threads, “You said it makes sounds?”

Chanyeol laughed and retrieved the instrument. He began to play it and from it came a foreign but enchanting sound. It resembled a pleasant trilling, gentle in its harmonies, and reminded Kyungsoo of the bells which Chanyeol had showed him one time. 

As a much smaller god he had shaken the bells with senseless joy, much to Junmyeon’s annoyance, keeping many of the earth gods awake at night -- and this memory would serve as his inspiration for the bell-shaped flowers that he scattered across the earth’s meadows.

The song reminded him of sunlight; of Chanyeol; of the warmth of his laughter.

“I composed it.” The sky god said proudly as the song concluded.

“It’s nice,” complimented Kyungsoo as he smiled at the other, “What inspired you?” 

“You,” Chanyeol said with a shrug as he smiled, “You inspired me.” 

 

-
    
    
    “Then, followed the inevitable….”
    -
    
    
    
    

“What do you mean?” the earth god laughed, “I don’t make music.”

“No,” said the sky god as he planted the instrument on the floor, “But I’m inspired by what I love… and I love you Kyungsoo.”

 

-
    
    
    “They fell in love.”
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Love. 

The word hung powerfully in the air, pulling the pair readily into its gravity. 

Chanyeol held Kyungsoo by his trembling hands as he looked up and stared at the sky god’s face. His expression was calm but not confident. His eyes, strange as they were to observe, appeared beautifully clear like pools, and in them, Kyungsoo saw himself. He wasn’t shining in the sun, like Chanyeol was, but he was clear and present and as real as the ground beneath his feet.

This represented perfectly how they saw each other, he deduced. To the earth, the sun’s presence was beautiful but fleeting; but to the sun, the earth was a _constant_ , a reachable, touchable entity. It was a contrasting but harmonious connection. 

“I love you,” repeated the sky god as he drew their fingers together.

“I love you too,” was the earth god’s reply, bemused, as he laughed, “You already know I do… or did you? Did you really not know?” 

The sky god shook his head, gaze alight with tenderness,

“I love you in a different way. I love you like…” 

“Love is _love_ , Chanyeol.”

“No. It’s not. This is--”

The sky god’s grip around his hands tightened as his expression deepened into one of thorough thought. 

“You want to take me to the skies,” murmured Kyungsoo, delivering the words himself in the hopes of easing the other’s heart, “Take me as a lover.”

“Exactly,” huffed Chanyeol.

“You know that’s impossible.” Kyungsoo said with a laugh as he batted the other on the arm before walking away from him, dragging his cart.

They walked together side-by-side in silence. It was only at the recognition that the other hadn’t spoken a word that Kyungsoo realised that he had approached the situation poorly. Chanyeol was understandably hurt and it showed in the strictness of his composure. He wasn’t even slouching despite the fact that they had been walking all afternoon.

“You can’t bring me up there,” said Kyungsoo, meeting Chanyeol’s sad eyes, “There are so many reasons why you can’t.”

“Accept my love at least.” Chanyeol pressed as he turned to him, walking backwards in the process.

“I can’t do that either,” murmured Kyungsoo, aware of the practices and what exactly such an acceptance would entail. “I can’t _be_ a lover. My place is here. If I accept…” At the sight of the sky god almost colliding with a large tree, Kyungsoo winced and quickly dragged him back with a hand, imposing their figures against each other in a close embrace.

The young god exhaled as he looked up at the other. 

“If I accept,” he began again, noticing the sly way in which Chanyeol’s free hand had crept up and planted itself on his back, “If I accept…”

“If you accept,” echoed the sky god.

“I’d be abandoning my post.” Kyungsoo’s expression grew firm despite how the sky god’s obvious sentiments was warming his heart, “and I can’t do it. It’s not time.”

“How do you know it’s not time?”

“I know it’s not. Look around you. I’m not done.”

Frustration settled on Chanyeol’s brow as he frowned, looking away, falling still in his position.

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you,” Kyungsoo continued as he began to walk, blinking more heavily as he realised that the other wasn’t following.

He paused as his arm sagged behind him. And then it became too much and the earth god turned, dropped the cart, and walked towards the dejected god, drawing his face upwards with a gentle hand.

“Look around you, Chanyeol. I’ve loved you for a long time too.”

There was an endless vista of beauty around them, draped over all extending horizons, and they had grown as seeds from the dreams of a simple god and the simple love and friendship he’d shared with another.

“You see don’t you?” Kyungsoo asked more fiercely, “How much I do?”

“I see it,” breathed the sky god, gaze hovering at a distance whereby huge hills had grown, clothed in wonderful purple blades, and across from there, countless meadows had come to dress the ground they had ran over as small youthful gods spinning their tales and idle dreams, “You should have told me all this before I played you that terrible song…” 

The earth god laughed loudly, elbowing the other as he shook his head.

“Did you know I was going to confess?”

“I knew after the song.”

The sky god sighed playfully as he pulled the other towards him.

“I… am proud of what you’ve accomplished.” Chanyeol said as he held Kyungsoo’s face with both hands and placed a light kiss on his forehead.

“Thank you.” Kyungsoo’s eyes had drifted shut, revelling in the sensation of the other’s closeness. 

When he opened them again, and saw how the other looked beneath the brilliant sky, a beautiful being, so _beautiful_ that nothing he created could truly compare, the earth god was immediately moved to tears. And as his tired eyes were filled, darkening his vision into unsettling patches, he felt Chanyeol’s arms seal him into a familiar embrace, 

“I’m sorry that I can’t accept your love yet.” Kyungsoo delivered in a tearful whisper.

“It’s okay. You will continue to make this the most beautiful place.” The sky god’s voice was deep but soft, warmed by the love that swelled between the syllables, “And I will be at your side until the day you finish.”

It was a meaningful promise. So the earth god bound them with his own as he smiled at the other. 

“Whenever that day comes, you’ll have me. Nobody else. Just you.” 

The sky god accepted his promise with a tender caress of his cheek.

“And we’ll look on the beautiful world you created together from above.” 

 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “After their confessions, the pair became inseparable.
    
    It wasn’t long before the renewed closeness of their relationship would attract the attention of those around them…”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

The pebbles by the riverbank felt cool between his toes. With careful pacing, Kyungsoo squatted down and dipped his hand into the river, letting the fast-running water slide around his muddied hand, clearing the dirt that coated his fingertips.

“So, I saw you and Chanyeol earlier.” 

Junmyeon was above him, arms crossed, gaze pinned to the furthest corner of the skyline. It had been a while since he had concluded his guardianship duties. Out of kindness, the older god had come by for a surprise visit unaware that it had coincided with an afternoon Kyungsoo had promised to the sky god. 

He had found them in a valley of tall pastel roses, laughing with the earth god’s arms wrapped around the other’s waist as he’d attempted to throw the other across the fields. They had played in the same familiarly chaotic manner that Junmyeon remembered when they were younger. 

But then they kissed. 

And in the shock of the moment, the older god had stepped in and made his presence known.

“... it’s wonderful to see that you remain as friends all this time.” The guilt on their faces was one for the memories, Junmyeon thought sadly as he lowered his eyes to the quiet earth god, “That’s all it is right?” 

Kyungsoo’s fingers flexed in the water as he stared at the river bed’s bubbling surface. He exhaled before forcing a smile on his face as he gazed in Junmyeon’s direction.

“When I was younger, I remember how I used to cry when Chanyeol returned home to heaven. I asked you why and you said it was because the earth wouldn’t accept a sky god in its presence for a long time. The earth fears them because she--”

“She fears fire.” Junmyeon affirmed.

“Yes. But now I think it’s different,” said Kyungsoo, “I think she cries when he’s not here.” 

The water god was expressionless as he asked a mere,

“And you?” 

“What about me?”

Tension climbed to the surface of the conversation as Kyungsoo stood up, making it presently clear that he was not the same young god that Junmyeon had watched over. He didn’t need guardianship anymore. Nor did he need a commentary on what he or the earth needed.

“This can only end badly,” was Junmyeon’s modestly delivered warning, “If you want to achieve what you aspire, you will have to be prepared to sacrifice everything and _everyone_.”

“Then so be it.” 

Kyungsoo said in return, teeth locking together as he brushed past the older god, a sense of regret immediately settling in his chest at the weight of the words.

 

 

 

 

Shortly after the visit, a long hot afternoon came and passed -- the first of their arranged days together that Chanyeol would miss. 

Kyungsoo thought nothing of it and completed his tasks as if it had been any other day.

But later, in the hour that preceded dark, Kyungsoo was wiping his tired muddied arms down in the slow-flowing river when he found himself glimpsing an angry grey sky in the water’s reflection. A series of lights flashed garishly within the image, striking the clouds in half, drawing the skies closer together to resemble the eye of a dominant storm.

It was violent -- and menacing -- and unlike anything he had ever seen. 

Startled, he looked up above him immediately but saw only a friendly blue sky glancing back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “And fate would have it, that those who hailed from heaven would soon suspect the young sky god of illicit relations.
    
    When his father discovered their relationship, and he confessed to the accusations, the strength of the sun god’s fury would shake the heavens and earth.
    
    The young god was banished in a terrifying ball of fire, delivered with merciless power by his father’s hand, bound for land where the earth god would find him and they would be compelled to confront their wrongdoings together.”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

It was chaos. Everything was _burning_. The air was thick and stifling -- all lines of vision suffocated by the sight of multiple blazes consuming the meadows acre by acre. Nothing would survive this -- even if the earth god tried to save them all, the blazes were everywhere and he couldn’t act fast enough. But he knew there was one that he could save; one he _must_ save.

In time, he found him. He didn’t know how but he did. 

Scarred with dirty streaks of ash and dirt, Kyungsoo saw Chanyeol choking, barely conscious in the crater, his body bare and scorched. Without hesitation, he leapt through the flames that cradled the edges of the hole and secured the sky god in his arms.

Too terrified to speak, the earth god shut his eyes and held him closely, drawing all of his remaining strength inwards as a final front of defence as another lash of terrible fire battered the earth, jolting the ground viciously around them.

The earth god placed his hands on the sky god’s head, crying out as the flames ripped through the surface of his clothes and scalded his skin. His cry echoed through the crumbling earth, claiming his final ounce of vitality, as he took the final punishment in the arms of his lover.

 

It was his mother’s mercy that finally halted the slaughter.

 

 

By the time the pair of gods were dragged to their knees beneath the open heavens, all the fires were extinguished and the air was noticeably lighter. But the heavens remained a harrowing red, the anger of the gods appearing as cracks in the clouds as they flashed enormous bolts of lightning over their heads. The lights were blinding. The winds were sharp and lashed against their cheeks, heavy and reproaching.

Kyungsoo looked upon the destructed fields and felt grateful for the darkness would hide the dead from him. 

“Father, please,” Chanyeol choked, placing his head weakly on the earth, “Spare us.”

Kyungsoo raised a hand to hold out to Chanyeol only to cry out as his wrist was held tightly by Junmyeon who had appeared beside him. The water god’s expression was constricted with unspoken hurt and his voice trembled as he cautioned him.

“Have respect. Kyungsoo.”

After locking eyes with the older god, Kyungsoo obliged and bowed his head to the floor.

As his lips touched the bare earth, he felt the depth of the earth’s pain and his heart ached.

“Spare us,” he murmured, desperation edged in his voice as he grasped at the barren dirt with his fingers, “Spare us.”

The heavens growled in disdain. 

Kyungsoo felt his hand sink further into the earth as he struggled for air. He looked across in Chanyeol’s direction and saw how the young sky god had surrendered fully in his terror, never once braving to glance in his direction as he continued to beg for forgiveness.

 

-
    
    
    “The two were forced to denounce their relationship to their parents under the furious eye of the heavens and the despair of the divinity on earth. 
    
    And they did.
    
    The sky god was then returned to his father in the skies without a final goodbye…” 
    
    
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

“...and the earth god remained with no knowledge if he would ever be reunited with the sky god again--”

 

 

The nearby rattle of a nurse’s mobile unit interrupted the storyteller. He looked around, fingers tightening over his book, remaining there until the sound grew further away. 

“Oh?” The patient glanced around, “Why are you stopping?” 

“Sorry.” The storyteller smiled sheepishly as he shifted back into a comfortable position.

He set his gaze on the patient who was smiling widely, his fingers clasped over the sheets in complete attention. It appeared that his initial tiredness had wilted away as his interest in the story bloomed. He was an attentive listener, never once interrupting no matter how curious a matter may have made him.

When they spoke again, they did do so at the same time, and their words toppled over each other in an awkward rhythm. 

“The story’s much sadder than I thought.” 

“Can I ask you about your eyes?” 

Silence followed.

The storyteller exhaled deeply as the patient appeared to withdraw, bowing his head towards the bed in thought. 

“I’m sorry.” The storyteller waved it off, “Forget I asked. The story? Yes it’s a bit sad but it’s not finished yet so…”

“I lost my sight a while ago,” the patient said, looking up in his direction and smiling back, “There’s nothing much to it.”

“Oh.”

“Was it obvious? Some people can’t tell at first glance.” the patient asked, laughing slightly as he wrung his fingers around his wrist, “I did wonder why you didn’t say anything earlier.”

“I read the ward’s patient notes. So I cheated. I kinda knew.” 

“No fair…”

“Sorry.” 

The apparent bashfulness of his visitor prompted the patient to laugh again. 

“I’m clumsy sometimes. That tends to be why I end up here,” he continued, as the storyteller listened eagerly, “Last month it was a wheelbarrow accident…” 

“A wheelbarrow accident?” The storyteller grinned, “Sounds like that’s quite a story.” 

“Maybe I’ll tell you mine after you tell me yours,” suggested the patient.

“Alright then. It’s a promise.” The storyteller beamed, “Where was I?”

“The earth god is alone.” The patient said eagerly, sitting up in anticipation, “The sky god is in heaven.”

Expressing a knowing ‘ _ah_ ,’ the storyteller nodded as he observed the patient, before returning to his book, his expression softening at the sight of the large empty page as he ran a finger down the book’s spine.

He inhaled deeply before beginning, gaze settling on the patient’s face as he spoke. 

“The earth god grieved deeply, unable to believe the destruction before him. He didn’t know where to begin again. The weight of the task grew more difficult as each day passed, challenged further by the loss of the sky god’s presence….” 

 

 

-
    
    
    “... He tried his best. He recovered what he could from what was left from the fires and comforted the land with plenty of nourishment. 
    
    It was during these reparations that he came across one of the few relics that survived the brutality of the sun god’s attack. 
    
    
    
    The star. The sky god’s star. The star that never grew…”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Holding the heaven born stone beneath the open skies felt deeply ironic to Kyungsoo. It was also funny in the sense that it appeared to have been the only thing to fully survive the fires. This meant that by being dead, it _lived_.

The earth god wiped the dirt from its shiny green coating with his thumbs in a delicate gesture as it winked against the sunlight on his palm. He remembered the first time he’d seen it. The panicked way that the sky god had buried it into the dirt to protect it. This had been his very first gift for Kyungsoo and for that alone, the earth god knew that it was an item to cherish.

He remembered now how much he used to believe that it would grow. But instead, the rest of his creations grew around it and it sunk into the ground, forgotten.

It was mystifying to think that he would find it again now, as a gleaming symbol of hope, after his world was so brutally taken from him. Was it fate?

Could it be Chanyeol?

The earth god fell to his knees as he dug for the rest of them.

But he wouldn’t find another. 

 

-
    
    
    “In the peak of his hopelessness, the earth god planted the star that never grew into the ground and prayed for life.”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Kyungsoo’s crippled hands trembled as they flattened the dirt on the top of the star which rested a few inches beneath the earth.

“Please,” he murmured as he bowed to the earth, just as he had to the older gods that night, “ _Please_.” 

All he needed was a single sign that the earth was willing; that it could take life once again. 

But it wasn’t a miracle he could give to himself. And he didn’t know who else was left to listen. 

Weary, the earth god beat the broken land with his fists as he began to weep, his warm tears, crystal-like, seeping right into the earth beneath him.

 

 

-
    
    
    “The earth god then wept freely for the earth and for his broken heart for the first time.
    
    When he returned to the same spot a few days later, he discovered a miracle.
    
    For within the small square of land in which he had planted the star, a tiny green stalk had appeared.” 
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Cross-legged beneath the burning heat of the sun, the earth god admired the small inch-sized stalk with gleaming eyes. He stared and wiped his aching eyes, laughing softly as he brushed the plant’s sole leaf with the lightest touch.

“Chanyeol,” he whispered, “It’s your star. It’s finally here.” 

Letting his eyes shut, he focused on the sunlight on his skin and imagined that it was the sky god’s reassuring hand on his shoulder. He could hear Chanyeol’s cry of awe from where he was sat. They had waited so long for it to appear. And now, they would finally have the chance to raise it together. Sun and earth. 

At the thought, the earth god smiled. 

All his life, he had grown up being told of the impossibilities of the earth and sky; how the two could never be _one_. Yet there across him now, the evidence of this union was living, growing, and it would soon thrive as a symbol, a lesson, a lasting signature that all of life’s diverging fibres were connected. And no existing power -- not fear, rumour, or destruction -- could divide what was meant to be.

And it was here, in the presence of this miracle, that the earth god would look around the bare earth and feel replenished with hope for the first time.

 

 

-
    
    
    “Slowly but with more courage, the earth god began to rebuild what he had lost. Life grew in patches, then acres, and they did so more resiliently than before. 
    
    
    
    
    
    One night, under a cloudy and dim heaven, the earth god was woken by the sight of an unnatural glowing in the distance.
    
    He followed it and what he found was a huge towering tree with a canopy that shone like golden firelight. 
    
    It was the star.
    
    It was _The Heart of The Sun_.”
    -
    
    
    
    

With a cloak wrapped over him, Kyungsoo watched the tree branches as they swayed, their dazzling light a beautiful contrast against the cold black sky. 

No words could describe how enchanting it looked. It felt like a figment straight out of his childhood imaginings. A tree that shone like _gold_ ; with leaves shaped like flames.

Tears formed in his eyes as he lifted his fingers and reached across innocently to hold onto a branch. Unable to quite grasp his fingers around the leaves, the earth god tilted forwards to his toes, straining.

His fingertips finally brushed against a leaf, causing the canopy to quiver. 

 

A voice behind him then said a simple,

“I can help you with that.” 

 

-
    
    
    “And beneath the tree, stood a familiar figure.”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Kyungsoo froze, his hands falling to his sides as he turned around.

His eyes were struck wide as his voice exuded hope - pronouncing the name out loud with no cares as to who would hear,

 

“Chanyeol?” 

 

-
    
    
    “It was the sky god. He stood in front of the earth god, dressed in armor composed of the most stunning gold.
    
    They stepped towards each other, joy alight in their faces.
    
    -
    
    
    
    

“I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry.” Chanyeol whispered as he stepped across and enveloped the other into his arms. 

 

-
    
    
    And it was there, under the light of the glowing tree, in the deep and bitter cold, that the pair were finally reunited. 
    
    -
    
    
    
    


	2. for the world we're gonna make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a/n;  
> music inspiration: the only thing by sufjan stevens /// overflow of love by alexandre desplat (tsow soundtrack) // i will be blessed by ben howard

*

 

They had never met under the cover of night before.

A cold breeze swept over the pair, prompting Kyungsoo to lean further into the sky god as the other continued to murmur sweet apologies into his hair.

“I’m so sorry… I wanted to come sooner… it was so hard… so hard… but I found a way… I won’t let it happen again….” 

Letting his fingers cautiously grip the other’s glowing attire, the earth god expelled a shaky gasp as the belief slowly dawned on him. This was real. The sky god was here. He had returned -- safe and strong. 

He regarded Chanyeol with warm shy eyes, smiling, as he realised that the radiance of the tree meant that the dark wouldn’t conceal him. Chanyeol appeared exactly as he remembered him -- with the only remnants of their heavy separation stored in the tiredness of his eyes and the seriousness of his expression. Compared to the many times he’d descended previously, there was no obvious twinkle of excitement in his gaze. Instead, he seemed reassured; like he couldn’t yet process his luck.

“How are you here?” Kyungsoo asked, forcing the ache out of his tone as he allowed the other to embrace him fully.

“Say you miss me first.” The sky god’s tone was more familiar there. Kyungsoo laughed, planting a hand on the back of Chanyeol’s neck as he stroked the skin.

“I missed you.” Kyungsoo obliged, his voice barely reaching a whisper, a hint of how much he’d strived to keep his emotions back since that night. Soon, he foresaw that it would all come crashing down in a flood but he strived to endure the burden for now, uncertain if he could cope with the prospect of revisiting his broken heart again.

“You were hurting.” Chanyeol’s hands ran down his arms, seeking his fingers and weaving them together, as he murmured into Kyungsoo’s ear with trembling lips -- “...and I bribed the moon guard.”

“ _Bribed_?”

“He’s very fond of shiny things.” 

The urge to smack the sky god’s arm overpowered any initial sentiment towards such an overly affectionate gesture.

With a yelp, the tall god stumbled back into the tree, causing the leaves to shake and an immediate shower of misshapen shadows. No doubt Kyungsoo grasped the gravity of such an action moments later as he approached the sky god laughing loudly, taking his one hand and adorning its knuckles with a kiss.

“I wouldn’t believe it if it was anyone but you,” said Kyungsoo as he dissolved the distance between them again, pressing against him until he could secure his chin on Chanyeol’s shoulder, “I can’t have been the only one hurting.” He said, looking up at him, “You must have been bored, huh?”

Chanyeol smiled playfully. It was the expression Kyungsoo knew best and at the presence of it, any strangeness about their situation, no matter how profound, melted away. 

“I was in agony,” he responded, “I didn’t know if you would even take me back.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Kyungsoo said with narrowed eyes, observing the way the other’s eyes shifted sadly back to the floor.

“That day. I was so scared… my father said he would burn you in front of me… so I let them take everything. I was a _coward_ and you suffered.”

There was so much pain in his voice. Kyungsoo placed a kiss on his clothed chest.

“You did the right thing Chanyeol.”

“But everything’s gone.”

Kyungsoo gestured towards the gleaming canopy with his eyes. “Not everything.” He said, “Your star and I. We are managing to get things back to the way they were.”

“Ah. So he’s taken care of you? _Thank you very much_.” Chanyeol patted the bark of the tree with his free hand as he laughed, lifting his fingers to caress the back of the earth god’s head, “Well, I’ll be here for you now too. At night when I am able to bribe the moon guard.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo said, once again torn on whether to scold him or to laugh, “Isn’t it dangerous? What about your father?”

“I’ll be careful,” reassured the sky god, “But I won’t stay away… you are the bravest being I know, Kyungsoo, and I don’t deserve to receive your love one day if I stay a coward.”

There was so much feeling behind his words that Kyungsoo, who had suffered from loneliness all this time, felt in complete surrender to them. To think that Chanyeol still viewed the day his love would be reciprocated as clearly now, despite all that they had suffered, ignited a hope within the earth god that he had forgotten he needed.

“You’re not a coward,” said the earth god firmly, “and you have my love--”

“ _Ah_ \--!” Chanyeol shook his head, interrupting him, “Not yet. You’re not done remember? You can’t tell me false promises just because it’s dark. There is plenty for us to do before that day.”

Amused, Kyungsoo nodded his head in agreement, letting his head bow against the other’s chest as he laughed. He was feeling happy suddenly; all that he remembered of the stunning emotion was returning and he wanted to dwell in it for the rest of the night. Chanyeol’s arms found room to embrace his smaller form again and he let him, wanting the other to absorb the sensations as fully as he could.

Even if they felt the same, nothing truly was. Each time they would meet, it would be in the company of flame-shaped shadows and they would simply have to learn to hold each other through it. 

“This star is my gift to you,” said Chanyeol, as he observed the brilliant lights, “It’s even more beautiful than I thought.”

The earth god responded by simply closing his eyes, enabling the faint glimmers of the lights sink into his memory, as he kissed the wandering sky god with ease. 

 

 

-
    
    
    “The pair of gods pursued their relationship in secret. During the long nights, when the sun took its rest, the mischievous sky god descended to earth and met with the earth god under the shelter of the forests.
    
    In parallel to their younger years, the pair worked on nursing the earth back to it’s full health. With the sky god at his side, the earth god worked with more confidence and strength and this was reflected in the ease in which life was able to return and prosper on the planet.
    
    They worked under the supervision of the glowing tree, whilst also falling deeper in love. ”
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

“Chanyeol, you can’t just steal from it!”

“Why not? It’s my tree!” 

It was deep into the hours of night. The only being that remained awake was the moon in its half-state, shining distantly behind a cloak of thick smoky clouds. Kyungsoo was completing his nightly rounds with the sky god, exploring the breadth of land he had marked during the day as an area for him to rebuild larger pastures. 

They had embarked on the project with ambition but it seemed to have lost its urgency after he discovered that Chanyeol was lettering their path with stolen leaves from the gleaming star-tree. This meant that the enormous field was now branded with blazing golden leaves from one end to the next. Against the unyielding darkness of the ground, the sight appeared like the night sky with the dazzling leaves resembling tiny colourful specks of various stars and planets that could be viewed from all corners of the horizon. 

It was obvious that the sky god was in a playful mood. Kyungsoo didn’t admonish him, realising then that some amusement wouldn’t go amiss considering the long day he’d already had.

“It’s too dark. You might get lost,” teased Chanyeol as he planted his hands on the earth god’s shoulders, “I’m doing it for you.”

“Ah.” A smirk appeared on Kyungsoo’s lips, “But there’s no need.” With a confident smile, the earth god lifted his hand and signalled in the air with two loud clicks of his fingers.

The result was immediate. The sky god watched, open-mouthed, as a swarm of lights fled from the confines of a distant hedge and roamed over the fields in their direction with violent speed. He stumbled back as the hoard of yellow lights flew over them dragging a palpable tide of air -- bending the tall crops at an angle -- with a chorus of foreign _humming_ that seemed more tuneful than assaulting. 

“That’s new.” Chanyeol mouthed as the creatures scattered across the fields, resembling moving starlight as they cast sunny beams on the dim corners of the expanse.

Some returned to Chanyeol and he was able to gain a better glimpse of them. They hovered over his head, then down to his arms, and eventually a pair rested on the open palm he offered. Raising the creatures to his line of vision, he noted that their lights were not contained in their wings as he’d presumed but fixed carefully to their bodies. The creatures were small and basal in biology but the brilliance of their light was immense. Stronger than moonlight even.

“I think you forget that this is my world… and I did that for you,” Kyungsoo teased, as he held onto the sky god’s arm, “In case you get lost.” 

“I like them!” exclaimed Chanyeol as more began to flock around him, curious at the presence of the stranger, with some settling on the very top of his nest of hair.

Kyungsoo laughed at the sight. There truly wasn’t a single danger of darkness when it came to the sky god. He drew light to him as easily as that.

“You look funny,” commented the earth god as Chanyeol outstretched his limbs, allowing the creatures to perch on his broad body freely.

“They like me, I think.”

“If you say so.”

“Let’s keep them with us.”

“Alright but you can’t take them up with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because!”

They continued to wade through the plantation: earth god, sky god, and an army of lights that fluttered over them, guiding the way.

 

 

And during these nights, further discoveries were made: creatures that dwelled in the dark were formed, crops that thrived in the night were created, and soon, even in the deep darkness, the earth swelled with a host of new and wonderful life forms. 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo wouldn’t deny that the bulk of his novel creations stemmed from his wish to see the wonder in Chanyeol’s eyes. It reminded him of his own amazement at the stories he was told about heaven when they were children. Back then he used to believe that his sense of awe stemmed from envy but it was clear now that the source was far simpler and more innocent. 

A natural instinct to _wonder_. 

“It’s like magic,” Chanyeol said in between laughter as he walked across the flat bridge of ice that joined one field to the next, enamoured by the gleaming blue light that stalked his every step in sharp shimmering tides, “How!”

The unusual light was carried by creatures that surveyed the plantations that had chosen to reside in deep water. They frequently greeted him and kept him company whenever he crossed the bridge during his long nightly walks.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” 

“Very.”

They walked the rest of the way hand-in-hand. 

In the distance, Kyungsoo glimpsed the warm light of the glowing tree -- a reminder that they had found their way back despite their distant wanderings. He stared at it with a comfortable smile as he dragged his worn cart from behind only to stop as he realised that Chanyeol wasn’t following.

“You’re working so hard.” Chanyeol said, as he stood behind, happily greeting the friendly luminescent bugs that swam around him, “Is there anything else I can do?” 

“What do you mean?” asked Kyungsoo as he waved the bugs away, only to be ignored as they returned and took shelter in Chanyeol’s hair.

“You tell me.”

The sky god shared his words as he stood there, beaming, streaks of dirt still across his face, all of the elegance of his position in hiding. The question perplexed Kyungsoo until the meaning was clarified by the very telling attention that Chanyeol gave to his lips.

A little embarrassed to say the words out loud, Kyungsoo lowered the handle of his cart to the floor before opening his arms dramatically and puckering his lips to invite the other to kiss them.

He shut his eyes in anticipation as Chanyeol approached whilst murmuring a quiet,

“I was just going to ask if you wanted me to hold your cart for you. _But_ , if that’s what you want-- aaaaah, okay! No need to walk away! I want to! I want to!”

 

The pair kissed until Kyungsoo privately grumbled about the bugs in Chanyeol’s hair, and began to pluck them out, causing the other to laugh into his neck as it tickled.

 

 

-
    
    
    But as more time passed and life on earth continued to grow, so did the magnitude of the earth god’s responsibilities.
    
    It soon became clear that to commit to his purpose, his destiny, to provide for the world as he had promised, the earth god had to be prepared to shoulder a great loss. For this, he had to consider his love for the earth against the love he held for the god from the sky.
    
    The sky god was not immune to the same challenges. Heaven became roused with the possibility of his sudden ascension to his father’s place. If he became the ruling god of the skies, his time on earth would be non-existent.
    
    Together, what they would inevitably choose felt like an impossible decision and they predicted that it would come before either of them were ready.”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Their picnic food and wine, sourced from heaven, lay in a mess by Kyungsoo’s feet as he spun around in Chanyeol’s robes. It was far too big for him: the luxurious material of the tunic draped over his knees as the thick robes billowed far beyond his arms and legs. In a poor attempt to appear elegant, the earth god lifted his elbows as he spun and laughed at the recognition that he resembled a poor imitation of a mating bird.

“Wonderful!” cheered Chanyeol who was positioned on the floor, cross-legged, thoroughly amused despite absorbing the show in Kyungsoo’s old clothing. The tatty blouse Kyungsoo frequented was barely over the sky god’s stomach and the trousers appeared shorter still. 

Neither of them could really remember how their innocent reminiscing had turned to this. Their evening under the clear skies had commenced as a night of reflection, of serious talk, of quiet but humble honoring of the great strides they had managed for the earth’s wellbeing. Unsurprisingly, the celebratory mood had overtaken all other instincts shortly after consuming heaven’s best foods. 

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo’s cheeks were flushed with drunkenness as he crossed his arms over each other, hugging the tunic closer to his form, “I like them actually.”

“Keep it!” jeered the sky god, waving his hands, “I will have plenty once I ascend.”

“Well. It would be valueless to me then.”

Kyungsoo descended to the floor, the golden fabric merging beneath him, as he met the sky god’s eyes. There was so much light around them now: comprised of small singular points that upon greeting the evening wind washed the dark fields with a soothing glow. Chanyeol seemed to be at the very crux of it -- no shadows were cast on his form as he basked in the almost ivory-glare of the evening company. 

The earth god loved it so much. How naturally the other god engaged with the life and light no matter the place. 

“To have the heart of the future ruler of the heavens,” mused the sky god, eyes twinkling, “You’re either the luckiest or the most cursed being.” 

“Do I really have your heart?” Kyungsoo questioned, before stretching out his palm, “Where is it?” 

Chanyeol smiled a shy smile, the confidence in his voice betrayed by the inflating measure of sadness in his eyes. It was easy to see when it came to him. There were creases that appeared around his eyes that only came when he was sad. Imperfections; that he could easily send away with a single thought.

“You have it!” cried the sky god dramatically, raising an arm, accentuating the insufficient robe length as it came up to his elbows, “It’s probably in your pocket!”

“It’s not.”

“Look again.”

“You have my pockets!”

The good-natured conversation went on for a while and concluded with the pair of young gods resting beneath the cool skies, side-by-side, musing over the faintest glimmers of starlight at an unreachable distance. 

“I’ll make a proposition with the moon god once I ascend. So I can see you once in a while.” Chanyeol murmured, as if it was as easy as an evening stroll.

“Don’t worry too much for me. I’ll be occupied too.” Kyungsoo said, “The world is going to get much, much bigger soon.”

“It’s exciting isn’t it?” Chanyeol asked, “Think of how much more you can do.”

The thought was exciting. But now that the night had proceeded, and the fleeting energy brought on by the food and wine had deserted him, Kyungsoo became far more mindful of his thoughts. Excitement was there, sure, but there was so much of him that sunk at the thought that nights like these would become a rarity with Chanyeol. A phenomenon engineered by time; not by their freedom. It was a disservice to their hearts and for that, the excitement dwindled with every passing thought.

“Doesn’t it excite you?” Chanyeol pressed, oblivious to the other’s glaring upset.

“It does,” responded the earth god, “But I know what that excitement replaces-- and it’s not enough.”

“What do you mean?”

Kyungsoo looked at him with a tired expression. They both knew. But someone had to say it.

“I’ll miss you. You’ll miss me. We’ll be apart. Except there won’t be fire this time. There won’t be anyone to blame. Just ourselves. The distance will feel more cruel than ever… and we’ll pity each other. We’ll pity each other so much that we’ll let go because it’s kinder.”

“Kyungsoo,” said Chanyeol, voice low, “Don’t talk that way.”

“What? Truthfully?”

The red-haired god’s expression retreated as he shook his head. He fell silent. Above them, grey clouds were ebbing away, slowly revealing more and more stars beneath its blanket.

Kyungsoo stared until his eyes ached, until the silence felt like a collar constricting his throat, before he rolled to his side and seized the other by the neck and kissed him on the mouth. The full brunt of romance had consumed him-- and drunk on all its tragedy and dissatisfaction -- he felt free to act and want. 

And what he wanted was to kiss and kiss, bury his miseries in the motions of lips and tongue, until the heartless morning would steal the sky god away again.

“Kyungsoo!” rasped the sky god, practically moaning, as the smaller god ran his fingers through the other’s bright crimson locks, inviting him closer as he wrapped his strong and well-built legs around him. 

They kissed fiercely but in synchrony until the sky god sought for breath and spluttered,

“You’re wrong… it’s not always kinder to let go.”

“I know,” sobbed the earth god, as his emotions rose in wild waves, tears striking wet cheeks, “But there’s always cruelty in being selfish.”

“ _Why_?” Chanyeol searched his eyes, “Why would you ever think that?”

“Because it’s always been that way for me.” 

That was what Kyungsoo had always believed. Guided by his purpose, he had always given himself away to its demands with no secondary doubt. It was against his every instinct to take for the sake of taking, to keep for the weight of possessing, but he was, as all beings were, afforded chances to influence his path.

To let himself _be_.

Kyungsoo was shaking, his words leaving his lips in short painful gasps, as his fingers clung to Chanyeol’s collar, “Just… this once I wanted something for myself…” his voice trembled, guilty, shameless— “I wanted you for myself…” The tears _burned_ his skin, “And it hurts but I can’t stop… I can’t make it stop…” 

Never had such a moment of grace presented itself so clearly, as when the sky god moved forth until their faces were touching and the gravity of their love seemed to draw the entire world inwards until it felt like they were completely solitary beings, holding all the powers that be within the precious inches that dwelled between their heads.

“Kyungsoo… if you’re going to be selfish only once in your existence,” Chanyeol whispered, wiping Kyungsoo’s trembling eyes with the softest fingers, as he lavished his lips with the gentlest kiss -- “Then be selfish with me.”

And the path Kyungsoo chose then was the selfish path -- and he did so promising he would carry no regret. 

The earth god sighed in victory as he kissed him back, roughly, tenderly, with urgency and purpose, drowning his instincts and doubts with breathless and bewildered sounds of pleasure, as they undressed -- and he finally and fully accepted the sky god’s love - in the dirt, within the groves, beneath a beautiful starlit sky. 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    “The pair continued their relationship as it was until the day that the young sky god finally ascended as the successor to his father’s position. 
    
    As they had predicted, the rooted precedents that bound their relationship were forced to change. 
    
    And for that, the sky god worked for a solution.
    
    As mischievous as ever, he decided, after recognising that he could not own the night, that he would create them. This phenomenon became known as an eclipse. A rare event in which he, as the superior power, would be able to escape the bounds of his throne and the overseeing eye of the heavens. 
    
    His show of love captured the earth god completely. 
    
    He waited for his lover, despite the overbearing nature of his own responsibilities, by _The Heart of The Sun_. The everlasting glow of the tree remained as bright and comforting and beneath it, the pair of gods exchanged their stories and their wishes, forgetting for a while the long periods of separation they had faced and would continue to face.” 
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Trailing his fingers down the aged trunk of the glowing star, Kyungsoo traced the swells and edges of its husk with his eyes shut. In moments like these, in the deep quiet, the earth god felt privy to the essence that dwelled within the living. It wasn’t as obvious as a beat or a song -- it was simpler, deceptively insignificant, more akin to a feeling, a _touch_ , and from that, he would understand so much. It varied between beings and seasons. The language of life was the most mysterious one -- and for that, it would never fail to fascinate him.

As he circled the tree, swaying innocently from side-to-side, the earth god paused as he felt his fingers brush upon flesh.

Instantly a smile grew on his lips. 

“You’re late.” Kyungsoo said as his eyes remained closed, curiously letting his fingers run up the sky god’s familiar hands, tracing the skin, seeking understanding. After a long moment of silence, he asked a more tentative, “Is everything okay?” 

“Everything’s perfect.” The sky god’s baritone voice was rich with emotion as their fingers entwined, “Sorry for being late.”

He didn’t need to say a word. Kyungsoo felt all of his feelings pulsate beneath the shield of his skin. The intensity of his affections was the most prominent and went straight to the earth god’s heart, reassuring him and sending away all of his qualms.

“Open your eyes. Don’t hide from me,” was Chanyeol’s plea as he brushed his fingers over the earth god’s eyelids, smiling.

When Kyungsoo finally opened his eyes, the sight of Chanyeol stood in front of him, a mighty god adored in gold, filled him with the need to drown the backdrop in colour as a commemoration of his presence. A reminder that this was how he made him feel on their cherished times together.

“I have so many stories to tell you,” hummed the sky god as he began to sway them both around, the drooping leaves of the glowing tree brushing against the top of his head, “You’re going to tire of my voice.” 

“I’m already tired of it,” teased Kyungsoo as the other laughed. 

“Don’t be so mean!”

“You’re so loud.” The earth god muttered as he let him go.

Chanyeol followed after him obediently. “Kiss me then. Shut my loud mouth.” 

“Clever.” Kyungsoo barked as he shoved the cart in Chanyeol’s direction with a smile, “But rewards come after hard work, hm?”

 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol left, the skies he left behind were always rich in character and colour. The clouds were shaped and streaked all across the visible horizon, accompanied by a loud cacophony of colours and shades weaved into interesting swirls and jets. The mountain ranges in the distance appeared mighty in the foreground, completing the full picture.

It was a message of sorts -- an invitation for Kyungsoo to watch them -- _him_ \-- until they cleared.

And he did, always.

He never missed a show.

 

 

 

 

 

But it was only truly in the dark that he found the security to express his love. He did so beneath the tree that had long stopped growing but continued to shelter them and preserve their secrets as their beacon.

“No darkness will ever dim its light.” Chanyeol said, lips broadening into a fond smile, as he gazed down at the earth god whose head rested on his lap beneath the canopy of gold, “So you will always have the means to find me.”

“All stars burn out,” hummed Kyungsoo.

“Not this one.” 

The certainty behind his tone prompted the earth god to smile. He kept his expression and looked upon the tree above him and thought about how fortunate they were to be in its presence. This miracle of nature and sky; their oldest friend.

As gods, they had nobody to pray to or seek comfort from. Kyungsoo was certain that they were not blessed to have these mortal compulsions -- but it was through love, that these elements had spread. At times, especially in the remoteness of his loneliness, the earth god thought he must carry the heaviest burden in existence.

But there stood the tree, a compelling testament in the distant horizon that there was value in holding faith; in expressing patience; and centrally, there was power in _love_.

“Not this one,” Kyungsoo echoed, as he gazed upon the sky god’s face with admiration, inhaling the air, filling himself with the purest sense of calm as he rolled over and fell into a deep sleep in Chanyeol’s arms.

The other held him close and shielded him from the cold.

 

 

 

 

Alone, Kyungsoo was woken by the sun’s rays, clothed in the sky god’s thick cloak, and as he gazed upon the skyline, he glimpsed the world coming -- a new world, a new time -- and felt overwhelmed with worry. He was soothed only by the early sunlight that invaded the leaves of the glowing tree which held him within its embrace until he was calm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    The following phase of the new world began. Humanity flourished. But within its presence, the earth began to change. 
    
    In time, it became clear that the sons of the earth were no longer needed and were forced to surrender their occupation. 
    
    Despite the reality that the earth god’s powers over the landscape were weakening, his passion for his purpose remained the same. 
    
    The earth god realised then that the loss he would be forced to shoulder-- was greater than he had thought.
    
    And it was true that he would have to sacrifice everything to protect what he created.”
    
    -
    
    
    
    

“There are so many miracles to witness if you know where to look.” 

Kyungsoo sat in the middle of a meadow, breathing in the most wonderful air. He planted his hands on the dirt floor beneath him and smiled warmly. “I can feel them, all of them, growing, _dying_ \-- living. There is so much more to all of this than just beauty.”

His mother stood beside him. It was the first time she had ever seen his work at close proximity. 

Today, he was planting. The glowing tree was in the middle as the key centerpiece— around it, arranged in a huge circular assembly, tall fresh green buds towered from the ground, unopened. The air carried their fragrant scent around, attracting the presence of a host of critters that zipped by curiously.

“But it started out that way. I saw emptiness. I saw _need_.” The earth god’s hands hovered over the grass and watched curiously as the grass blades leaned harmoniously against his touch, seeking comfort, “I saw a better world.” He smiled, “So I helped create one.”

At the sense of his mother’s hand on his shoulder, Kyungsoo’s eyes welled with tears as he let the meadow’s sounds wash over him, deeper and deeper still, a connection that ran from his chest, to his fingertips, to the very core of the earth they stood on. All this time, the gods around him had lamented the coming of the new world, when in truth, it was still the same earth. Young in life and experience; and it still needed him. 

He would not abandon it. But he couldn’t remain as he was.

“I would like to leave a lasting gift.” Kyungsoo looked up at his mother and smiled as he addressed the final bud by his feet, “And then I would like to stay.”

“ _What would you like to leave?”_

The earth god surveyed his surroundings, tears on his cheeks, a delighted smile on his lips, as he greeted the immediate world and sensed it greet him back with equal joy in the motions of the flowers and the adjoining hums of passing creatures.

He admired and absorbed as much of the sight as he possibly could before sending his gaze inevitably to the deep and familiar skies.

It was time to give the world what he cherished most. 

 

-
    
    
    “The earth god sacrificed his vision — his eyes— to the world. 
    
    The gift he had used his whole life to give belief and strength to his hopes and dreams. That, which had set him apart from the gods that came before him.
    
    And with his sight, he offered the new world and its inhabitants the opportunity to see the earth as he saw it. A place of opportunity, of beauty and contrasts. The earth god hoped it would inspire them to care for it and _create_ for it. 
    
    For he believed that they could make a heaven here. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    But the agony of his sacrifice was too much for the earth god. He disappeared.
    
    Leaving the sky god with no knowledge of where he had gone.” 
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

_He’s gone._

The consistent words of the struggling earth gods Chanyeol had dragged to explain at his feet rang like a chorus of malicious bells. They all said the same thing: one after the other without fail but still, he asked, and pressed, and hoped for something different above the noise. “He would-- never hide from me!” Chanyeol yelled at Junmyeon as he had balled his fists in fury, “Tell me where!”

“There is no _where_!” cried the water god, “It was too much for him-- Chanyeol!” He came after the young god as he marched away in fury, the strength of his feeling stifling the air around them, “There is no place for the deities here now. You won’t find him. I’ve tried.” 

No hope remained in Junmyeon’s voice.

“I can’t believe that,” spat the sky god as he regarded the other, “You can’t expect me to believe that, Junmyeon!”

“You must.” Junmyeon insisted, as he stared at the other before bowing his head in greeting, “All the powers of the world are on you now.” 

Witnessing the act of forced politeness triggered the sky god to laugh coldly. 

“I’ll accept your salutations when you find Kyungsoo,” was his sole instruction as he returned to the skies.

 

-
    
    
    “The sky god was heartbroken. 
    
    In his disbelief he continued to seek the earth god: during the nights, the eclipses, whenever he may step foot on the world -- determined in his refusal that the other would leave him.”
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

Around the glowing tree was a monumental meadow of flowers. Chanyeol had discovered it on the first night that Kyungsoo had disappeared. He remembered sitting beneath the tree, innocent in his thoughts, and being stunned still by the way that the ground around him roused with _light_ as the buds bloomed and expressed their radiance in the dark.

The colours were immensely beautiful. And the effects, when viewed from above, resembled the morning twilight skies he must have painted for Kyungsoo thousands of times over.

The same identical display greeted him each time he returned to earth. A reminder that the earth god had thought of him during his most troubled hours.

The flowers wilted with time -- and in their place rose an impenetrable forest. But the tree continued to shine; and as the star glowed, the sky god’s hopes of being reunited with his lost love lived on until the very symbol of his heartbreak became incorporated into legend. 

 

-
    
    
    “But what became of the earth god?
    
    The world grew and prospered.
    
    And as the planet spun, earth replaced earth, flowers bloomed and died, mountains grew and crumbled, and the land slowly began to lose the existing remnants of their love.
    
    Its memories of the sky and its beings were forgotten. And it would appear that the earth god had lost the sky god too.
    
    So, _The Heart of The Sun_ which continued to shine bright, bringing hope to those who are lost, also became lost.” 
    -
    
    
    
    

The room fell silent.

The patient sensed the visitor’s heavy breathing from the other side of the room and murmured,

“Is that all?” 

Across from him, the visitor had his head buried into his hands and didn’t answer.

“Did… did the sky god find him?” the patient pressed, as his expression changed into one of thought, “Something must have happened next. It can’t have ended yet.”

“Can’t it?” 

The visitor’s voice was broken. Defeated.

“What do you mean?” the patient asked.

The room felt uncomfortably quiet all of a sudden. In the distance, he could still hear the humming and the machines, but his senses became starkly aware of the space he occupied with the visitor and the limited sensations that resided within it. 

He stiffened at the sense of the visitor approaching his bed -- and him -- and noticed how the air around the room seemed to spike in heat. Immediately, he felt weighed down by more than just curiosity as the voice returned and its hypnotic quality led him back to a place of peculiar comfort,

“I can tell you what happened next. Or if you hold out your hand… I can show you.”

There was no hesitation on his part. The patient held out his hand and felt something rouse deep within him as the visitor wrapped his fingers around it.

 

 

 

 

 

What followed was the most dazing experience. Before he’d drawn another breath, the patient realised that he was no longer sitting up in bed, but he was upright. Gone were the mundane hums and clicks of the hospital machinery and the bitter scent of antiseptic and surgical cleaners. Instead, the air was fresh and cool -- cold enough to nip at the skin of his bare arms and legs as he stood on what felt like young blades of wet grass beneath his uncovered feet. It smelled of dirt and sea air and more distantly, fresh flowers.

His hand remained tightly wrapped around the visitor’s as he inhaled the outside air and grinned as it fully filled his lungs.

“You don’t seem that scared,” commented the visitor.

“I am.” The patient took a tentative step, letting the plants tickle the balls of his feet, “But I’m mostly curious. Where are we?” 

“Somewhere you knew,” was the mysterious reply.

“Knew?” The patient asked, before turning to the visitor and asking a simple, “Who are you?”

What he received in return was a simple and clear,

 

 

“It’s time to finish the story.”

 

 

The visitor, the storyteller -- the sky god -- placed his spare hand on the patient’s head and brushed his temple lightly with his thumb before guiding him forwards, across the unkempt pasture, where beyond the distance, a brilliant amber glow could be glimpsed.

“The sky god never gave up hope,” he began, “He cast light on the earth and took care of its inhabitants, in the hopes that one day he would get the chance to resume his search.” 

 

-
    
    
    “Eventually, his patience was rewarded. The heartbroken sky god was given the opportunity to set foot on earth again and explore the new worlds and its many corners. When he first came, he was confused by everything. There was so much more to the planet now -- and it amazed him. In the places he saw, and the people he met, there were some that even reminded him of the earth god, within the passion and optimism they had for their lives.
    
    He searched and searched until one day he encountered a small locality that celebrated a fable about a tree that glowed in the dark.
    
    And in this place, he was welcomed by a stranger who told him many stories -- and recommended him to meet a traveller who lived at the end of the road. 
    
    A well-travelled young man who grew the healthiest and most beautiful flowers. The young man was well-loved by the community as he shared his knowledge with all those that he met. He was kind and intelligent and the things he grew…” 
    
    
    
    
    -
    
    
    
    

“And the things he grew amazed the stranger so much. He said. _It’s incredible. How he manages to grow these wonderful things without his eyes to guide him_. He said…” 

 

Chanyeol wiped the tears from the patient’s eyes with his fingertips as they fell in single drops, golden, capturing the light of the gleaming canopy,

 

“They must be heaven-blessed.”

 

The patient continued to cry, his form trembling against the wind, as the sky god continued, barely managing through his own emotions as he spoke - 

“When he came to the traveller’s home… he found pastures and meadows and rich beautiful orchards. But the house was empty. _The gardener is sick_ , his neighbour said. He’s sick… and then he found him. Finally. After so long.”

Gasping for breath, the patient reached across and pulled the sky-god to him as the other reciprocated by placing a comforting hand on his cheek and murmuring,

“Let me show you the world I see.” 

Before longingly placing the lightest kiss on the patient’s forehead.

 

 

 

With the touch, fragments of colour were returned to the patient’s sight -- a flood of images and sensations, surges of faces and feelings, as real as anything he had ever experienced. He saw the world from shadow to sunrise, a chaotic merging of figments drawn from the many realities of life and living, as strange and fantasmic as images pulled from the fathoms of dreams. As he breathed through the initial shock and unfamiliarity, he finally began to hear voices and song, harmonies of a distant past, and it all dwindled down into a potent awareness of the _world_ , herself, as she unravelled across him, presenting her grace, a pulse, a beat-beat-beat, of an earth that has been living, waiting, and now _welcoming_ his return. 

 

The images dimmed; reduced to smoky flickers.

 

Slowly, the earth god lifted his shaking fingers to hold the sky god’s face to him. Chanyeol was crying uncontrollably, barely able to lift his chin with the strain of his thoughts.

 

“The earth god gave it all,” the patient— the earth god murmured, “Just so he could give this world a chance.” Tenderly, his hand raised to brush the back of the taller god’s neck, sensing him bow to the touch, “He wanted to make the most beautiful place; when _you_ , you -- you alone have always been that place.”

 

The vision had shown him the snapshot of an entire world in seconds. But nothing of what he saw felt as moving as the sudden touch of his lips on his skin— 

 

“Anywhere with you, Chanyeol, is the most beautiful place.”

 

Understanding slowly dawned on the other. Kyungsoo stilled as he let the sky god sob softly into his shoulders, wrapping his weak arms over him.

 

“Why did you go?” The sky god managed, forcing them closer to each other, “I waited so long.”

“They were right. It was too much for me.” Kyungsoo murmured, brushing the god’s skin with his own and shivering at the contact, “I couldn’t bear it.” 

 

 

That day, in the meadows, Kyungsoo gave up what fate had blessed him: his vision. And the agony was so devastating that his mother took pity on him, delivering him a final gift of mercy which he took -- _oblivion_. The earth god allowed his memories to fall away, and with it, the sky god, and the indescribable pain that came with losing what he cherished most. Hollowed, he lived throughout the world, his entire life basked in darkness, rooted only by an immortal connection to the earth that no powers could take away.

 

 

Now, with his memories restored, everything about his simple immortal life made perfect sense. Least of all, his unexplainable partiality towards sunny days.

 

“I never lost hope.” Chanyeol admitted.

“I am so glad you didn’t. I’ve missed you.”

“— So much,” the sky god completed as he expressed a smile before he cautiously kissed the other on the cheek.

He did so a few more times at the earth god’s invitation.

“You know I can feel it glowing,” Kyungsoo murmured after a moment’s quiet, raising his hand and letting his fingertips brush the sharp edges of the leaves, smiling as he sensed the sky god take his other hand and squeeze it tightly, “I wish I could see the light… is it really all as beautiful as what you showed me?” 

“So much more beautiful,” said Chanyeol.

The thought delighted the earth god. He lowered his arm and placed the cool hand on the sky god’s chest. Letting his thoughts recede, Kyungsoo fixated on the sensations as he weaved their fingers more tightly together, recognising the sky god for what he was from the simple touches alone. 

He was so familiar to him; every groove of his being remaining as clear and traceable as before. His presence spoiled Kyungsoo’s chest with so much warmth that it took a moment for him to recognise that the heat on his cheeks resonated from the emerging sunlight and not his own private admirations.

“The eclipse must be ending,” murmured Kyungsoo, as he rested his head against Chanyeol’s chest.

“It is.”

Slowly, a sense of warmth was restored to the air and the sun’s light began to overwhelm the glow of the star which hosted them beneath its roof. Kyungsoo felt all of it -- for he could feel everything again, and felt no pain now, only a stirring calm. He had experienced enough of the earth to know that the sun will return to watch over it and everything will circle back to how it was. 

It came from an inner faith in higher and deeper powers that he had finally grown to acknowledge. 

“Chanyeol?” he asked then, the calm spreading through him like the delicate flow of a calm river.

“Yes?”

Kyungsoo smiled up at him, sensing the other look back.

“Can you show me the skies now?” 

He felt the intensity of the sky god’s disbelief -- and then his delight, as he captured the earth god’s face with his hands, 

“Why? Is it time?” 

“It’s time.” Kyungsoo affirmed as he wrapped his arms around the other’s waist knowingly, “I just have to hold you like this, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“And no letting go.”

Chanyeol laughed, his voice still broken with emotion, 

“Exactly.” 

“I’m ready when you are.” Kyungsoo smiled.

The sky god wrapped larger and heavier arms around him, allowing his lips to rest on the other’s forehead as he murmured a tender,

“I have been ready for this for a very long time.”

 

 

 

 

The world was dissolving around him and Kyungsoo felt it completely: that same strange and exhilarating sensation of floating and falling as the intensity of the heat wrapped around him in a solid bubble. 

But he didn’t fear it.

It was the right time. Kyungsoo was certain of it. This was what Fate had long decided for them and so, when he felt the heat vanish and sensed only Chanyeol’s embrace, he was overwhelmed with the most powerful sense of joy. He remained there -- contented, fearless, and with no thought to the action, he opened his eyes for the first time and realised after a moment that he was seeing _light_.

It was impossible. Yet there it was.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol!” he cried out excitedly, looking up at him, “I think… I can see you.”

The darkness was clearing. Red hair. Gold. The same handsome boyish smile. Kyungsoo laughed, cried— as he let his vision fill with the sight of the sky god’s face which he traced and squeezed with his own fingers.

“I did promise that we would watch over the world together,” the sky god said, “This is my first gift. Do you want to see the second?”

 

 

Stunned, Kyungsoo nodded and took a shaky step forwards as he let the sky god lift his hands to his lips. Together, they walked ahead — through a thick dazzling fog which once settled revealed a sight that took the earth god’s breath away. They stood at the edge of it -- but beyond the boundary, lay a boundless expanse of natural wonder. There were elements he recognised and had mimicked in his creations but they were bigger here, more astounding, and there was _colour_.

So many new colours that he wouldn’t have thought to exist.

“Heaven is beautiful,” Kyungsoo expelled in awe, lifting his fingers to delicately touch the veil which separated them. 

“No, Kyungsoo,” corrected the sky god, “This is earth. Your earth. This is what it is now.” 

The earth god’s face fell.

“That’s impossible,” he breathed, sending his glance back to the world which continued on peacefully, “How?” 

“Because of you!” Chanyeol retorted cheerily, “You made this happen.”

“I did?”

“You did.”

They continued to observe from afar until Kyungsoo retired in Chanyeol’s arms, allowing the beauty of the world, and the premise of the heavens he was yet to see, yield to a much stronger urge to be held and loved in the sky god’s arms. To be loved; to be loved so much that a vision of heaven could blossom from the summit of a young god’s simplest joys and dreams. This was something he couldn’t create for himself; an element of his existence that he would only get here, in the most _beautiful_ of all places.

He smiled as he felt Chanyeol’s lips kiss him softly. 

 

“I have so many stories to tell you,” the sky god whispered, as the earth god nodded, holding him close as he kissed him in return.

“Me too.”

 

Somehow, Kyungsoo felt little doubt that he would experience that love here, again, in a heaven of their own. 

 

 

 

 

-
    
    
    The legend of _The Heart of The Sun_ continues, clothed in mystery.
    
    Nowadays, many believe that it shines in darkness purely as an emblem of the lasting connection between the earth and skies.
    
    An allusion to a divine and everlasting bond that runs deeper than we dare understand. 
    
    
    
     The End.
    -
    
    
    
    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: [tired spongebob huffing meme]
> 
> The update is here! Thank you so much for reading if you got that far c: !! if you did, thank you! You would have given time to one of my favourite pieces ever and for that i am very touched !
> 
> Firstly i will say that these little gods have given my vocabulary for pure romance a right kicking ahaha *__* secondly, just some things to clarify about the fic that is there but wasn’t explicitly said - ++ god-soo, after forgetting everything, does live a long immortal life, but thru spending his time on toxic earth, his powers recede, and so does his immortality → so by the time that pcy finds him, he is actually at the very end of his life-line, hence @ these hints of why he’s constantly hospitalised etc. 
> 
> (so you can take this ending 2 ways, for the realists/angsty chansooiess ahha but personally, i like the idea of them living out their immortality, sitting on clouds just people-watching c:) 
> 
> Lastly, ksoo’s earth is comprised of earth but is not Earth? C: so if you want to imagine ksoo’s planet, imagine it as wild and beautiful and crazy! Bc it absolutely is c:
> 
> Okay so this is thanks again! Back to the usual broadcasts i go. Once again, thank you lovely yen-i hope you like it! Thanks so much for reading, be well always guys c: !!


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